One Piece: Revolution
by Kingman13
Summary: The Technological Revolution led by Elizabeth Vegapunk led to two things: the World Government's power increased while the age of Pirates began to die out. However, Samuel Cheshire doesn't care about that, until he's accused for a crime he didn't commit.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone remembers the tales of pirates right? The life of adventure, treasure, wonder, mystery, passion, and glory. These are the words that are associated with the word _pirate_…usually. Depends on who you're asking.

If you were to ask the _average _person, in the _average _city, on the _average _island today, you may hear words like dirty, evil, vicious, seditious, treasonous, and worst of all…nonexistent.

Not sure you heard about it but, a long while back, some young girl decided to lead our world into an industrial revolution. Some young girl by the name…Elizabeth Vegapunk I think.

Anyways she was apparently the daughter of some genius who was a big part of the Marines.

His daughter however, was an even bigger genius than he ever was.

The things she did…I still can't believe are possible! Did you know that if you press a button, you could speak into this device and have a conversation from somebody on the opposite side of the world? Not like a Den Den Mushi, it was better than that.

She did lots of other cool things too; everything's powered by electricity now, even some people. Some ships now sail underwater, I even heard from someone she's working on vessels that can fly!

But, she's made plenty of destructive devices; guns that don't run out of bullets, massive warships made of metal, bombs that can obliterate whole islands are of common use nowadays. Or so I hear…

Needless to say this woman was with the Marines and they really began to crack down on piracy. But the pirates that do survive just grew stronger to keep up with the new fighting force.

Marines have been claiming territory for a while, which always pisses me off. The sea can't be controlled by a piece of paper. But they did it. Labeled large areas of the water like the East and South Blue, and large pieces of the North Blue and the Grand Line. But the West Blue has been keeping independent for a while now…

Still…I miss the good old days.

* * *

><p>Marineford: Capital of Marine Space.<p>

The destroyed buildings left behind in the Great War have long been replaced with skyscrapers and multi-complexes. It's population has reached over 1.2 million since the turn of the decade. Most say it's the central hub of civilization on the Grand Line.

A city ridden with crime and pollution is what it truly is.

A parade is being held on South Street, in honor of Celestial Dragons Meredith and Theodore. Many crowded on the sidewalks just to get a glimpse of the alleged _Dragons_. I am among them, on the balcony of some maid restaurant, trying to keep unnoticed in the sea of sheep.

Theodore was the one on the right with black hair, crooked teeth and the vulgar habit of picking his nose through his bubble.

Meredith was the one with a long crooked nose and wore enough make up to join a circus.

Just like their ancestors before them, they're truly despicable people. Despite our many _advancements_ in culture they still have the audacity to enslave innocent bystanders on the street. And they have only gotten worse and worse with every new generation, each one more corrupt and spoiled then the last.

There they sit, in their thrones being lifted by enslaved men, looking rather annoyed at all the people staring at them with unease.

-BANG-

Meredith fires her gun into the air, hundreds of people ducking and yelling in fear.

Meredith then pulls out her Magni-Phone to proceed to order every person to cheer and celebrate their arrival.

_A Magni-Phone is a device that can magnify anyone's speaking voice depending on the power level. A Den Den Mushi has been put on one end of the device, with a speaker on the other. Usually carried by officials and other Upper Classmen._

"**We grace you by allowing you to stand at our presence, and yet you do not applaud our entrance?**" Meredith shouts in snoot anger, her voice sounding like that of a cackling witch.

Eventually all the people realize their _wrong ways_ and immediately applaud the high polished scum.

All except me.

I can see arm guards at their sides and platoons parading the streets, their guns flashing in the sunlight.

_I can do this. One shot, and that's the end. I'll have proven myself. Then I will see…Katherine…_

My palms are sweaty. My hand reaches for my inner jacket pocket.

The parade float is getting closer to my position; I begin to push through the crowd of people.

My left hand is resting on the railing; my right is on the handle of a RR. Pistol.

_RR. Pistols fire rifle caliber ammo in a revolver's clip. This is achieved though a mechanism where when the gun is cocked, the revolver extends itself to allow a longer barrel so the bullet may be fired properly. Also, instead of having an iron sight like the traditional guns, this was the first series to have built in short-medium ranged scopes. While more accurate to other pistols, it wasn't nearly as effective due to a slower rate of fire compared to the A.A. Pistols with their automatic firing. Production was discontinued amongst the Marine's line of weaponry._

Its bone handle felt smooth on my palm. I realized once I pull it out I will have little to no time to line up a shot.

Their float is just a few feet from being directly in front of me.

I closed my eyes, and counted.

_One…two…_

I pulled the gun out and looked down the sight.

-CHUCHIK-

I cocked the gun. People began to push away from the sight of my gun.

The crosshairs was right at his temple.

_Three._

-**BANG-**

* * *

><p>-BANG- -BANG- -BANG-<p>

The sounds of hammer strokes on metal, perfect way to wake up in the morning.

"Your awake. Didn't think you'd ever 'vake up."

That was my grandpa, poking his head through the doorway with a hammer in one hand and a metal pot in the other.

"Damn it old man, my head hurts enough as it is."

Grandpa laughed. "It 'vill hurt even more in 'bout five seconds vhen this pot collides with your thick skull! Now geet up! We hav' much 'vork to do."

My grandfather's a real nice guy…really.

He came from a summer island in the North Blue, trying to make a name for himself in the big city: ended up with a small scrap metal shop in the Outer-Ring of the city.

Of course he used to be in Mid-town for a few years, and despite not living there for several years, he still brags about being _the big shot_.

Esteban Cheshire: Big shot Scrap-Dealer in Mid-town. Got kicked back by loan sharks and other crooked business owners after he started expanding into their territory.

And there's his grandson: one Samuel Cheshire, employee of a small Scrap-Dealer shop, no girlfriend, no M.U. Degree and no future ahead of him.

That's me by the way.

_The Marines began a nationwide education system exactly seventy years ago. In order to obtain any real worth while career or just one that is funded by the government, you must have acquired a Marine University degree in the respective field of work._

It's not all bad though, I'm better off than most people I suppose. I mean, I'm only twenty one. I've got plenty of life left in me to turn this existence around.

After a few attempts I finally pulled my lazy but out of bed, observed my surroundings.

My bedroom is directly above the shop. It has a bed supported by polished piping, a clothing dresser, a table I built out of scrap when I was twelve, and one big window of South Street.

_In Marineford, the city has developed far over the normal landmass it was originally build on. It has expanded into three areas: The most important buildings are at the Core, where the richest of rich and important reside. Then there is Mid-town, where most large corporations and businesses reside. And the largest is the Outer-Ring; the scummiest of poor and those unfortunate to have crossed Mid-town's players reside. Being that the entire city is a perfect circle, there are four main streets that are the respective directions (North, South, East, West.)_

I looked out the window as I combed my shaggy blond hair back. Hundreds of people gathered around the edges, as if they were waiting for something.

Must be some celebration going on…good for them.

I scratched my chin in disinterest, I hadn't shaved in forever so I had quite a goatee going on.

I slipped on a jump suit, blue and faded and stained with grease, with the symbol of the shop's mascot on the left chest area. It was supposed to be a little cartoon goat chewing on a gear but the stitching had almost all fallen out.

On the back it had the family last name on the back, but even there the stitching had all fallen out.

"'Vork! 'Vork! 'Vork! The sharks are coming!" I heard grandpa call to me.

It was his little inside joke about our scrap-dealers.

"I'm coming old man! God forbid you may die if I'm not there to wipe your ass!"

I pulled on some old boots and rushed down the stairs.

I don't know how he does it, but Esteban can open up shop faster than I could take a piss.

The shop was small in stature, just like its owner.

He was short, fat, had only a few tails of hair on the back of his head, and wore the same jumpsuit I did but with pants over the legs.

Most of the day we take customers' scrap they salvage off of God knows what, and barter off the scrap we take in. Some times someone calls in need of a spare part and we track it down to sell it for a higher price.

Not the most honorable business but…we all need to live right?

We sometimes even keep scrap and fashion it into more valuable items: rebuilding an engine to a jet waver, tables and bookshelves fashioned out of pipes, lots of neat stuff.

I stood at the bottom of the stairs to an empty store, only grandpa stood behind the counter.

"'_Vhere are the sharks?"_ I mocked him.

He frowned. "They are ull at that damn monstrosity out there." He said in anger.

He grit his teeth as I walked in. "I'll never accept what them _Drakes_ do to our fellow man. We should be shooting 'zem, instead we celebrate 'zem!"

I sighed and put my hand on his shoulder. "Don't rock the boat alright? Don't draw attention…hold out until the ride is over ok?"

He chuckled at this. "For me it could be yearz. You still have lifetime to deal 'vith 'zis crap."

"I'll deal with it when I actually give a damn, now come on."

-RING- -RING-

"Phone's ringing." I told him.

He nodded his head and gave me a tired smile.

He picked up the receiver. "Cheshire Chop n' Shop, diz iz Esteban, how can I help you?"

I pat him on the back and went back to the garage area where we kept most our tools.

Power saws, drills, a few motorized screwdrivers. But our most impressive piece of equipment, and my favorite, was the Smelt n' Sheeter.

It had this huge drum that, when full of scrap parts, heats up to over 800 degrees.

Melts the scrap down to liquid metal, pours it into these two giant rollers and BAM!

Fresh, clean looking sheet metal.

I bet that thing is older than Esteban.

In fact…it IS older than Esteban. Was made at the turn of the era.

_The year date of this world was reset to 0001 A.D. after the defeat of the current Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy. Although it was considered a defeat, several records show that it was a surrender more than a defeat. But the Navy was just using the cover of "defeat" to increase their power and discourage new coming pirates._

_The current date is 0039 A.D._

"Sammy!" Grandpa shouted. "Ve're going to hav' company in about thirty minutes. Jerry's going to want his new procezzor when he get's here!"

"SHIT! He does know that a faster job decreases the quality right?" I yelled back, setting down the power saw I was polishing.

"He'll pay double!" Esteban yelled back. "Which means you get hhalf of the total pay!"

We set up a certain pay split for every possible situation.

A rush job for me is 50/50, a week long job for us is about 40/60, normal jobs is about 25/75 with Esteban getting the bigger half every time.

I looked through the big blue tool chest to find a PIX stick, and a tiny screw driver to get the rest of the job done.

_A PIX stick is the equivalent of a combination of a soddering iron with a blow torch, mostly used for small wielding of wires and melding of circuit boards._

On the desk was a metal device that was about the size of a match book, green with dozens of wires and little dials and even smaller processors on that.

A master processor for an android.

_As mentioned before, the use of androids was perfected after the release of the PX series. However, they were remodeled to be used for less violent and more personalized by civilians. They are virtually identical to normal humans, a part from the company's symbol located somewhere on their body. There has been controversy about android use._

Jacque Valentine was kind of a creep: he owned a restaurant near the border of Mid-town but still in the Outer Ring.

But…he has a certain…thing for androids.

All of his waitresses were androids, and they wore…really revealing maid outfits.

How do I know?

Because my grandpa took me there for my sixteenth birthday!

And didn't even bother telling me that they weren't human in the first place!

Especially when I thought that one of them had the hots for me!

…I don't think on it too much but…it still kind of hurt…

Anyways, I flipped on a pair of magnifying goggles and began soddering wires together.

What many people don't know, apart from those who actually own an android, is that they are very high maintenance. Without any work done on them, they would barely last a decade. Processors have to be replaced, they need to have at least an annual check up.

It really didn't take that long compared to the other projects: I finished in about twenty minutes of work.

I screwed in the case and it was ready to go.

This master processor was specifically used for controlling the coordination of the limbs on the androids.

I remember Grandpa teaching me that the best way to disable an android was to go for the lower-central part of the chest, where the breast bone would join. This was where this processor was located usually.

We've constructed quite a few parts for androids, not just for Jacque and his fleet of floozies.

I was putting away the PIX Stick when the bell at the entrance of the door jingled.

-DINGLING-

"Company's here!" That owe-too-familiar voice shouted.

I sighed as I removed my welding gloves and walked out front.

Jacque was a very tall and distinct Northerner with wavy black and gray hair. What I always thought was his defining feature was his crooked nose that pointed upward even with his head pointed straight forward.

He was in his blue business suit: not his best suit but enough to make him look appropriate for a walk through the Outer-Ring.

Under his arm was a woman I've never seen before: About my height, tan skin with straight bleached hair that was cut at an angle so it looked squareish near her neck, a very developed body with a thin stripped dress on that was black and white.

I could almost tell she was an android: she just looked so…not real.

I guess it's in the eyes. Most people claim they can't tell the difference but I can usually tell.

Now if only there was some competition for being able to tell if someone was an android or not. Then I'd be set for life.

"Well well well," Jacque said with a modest grin, "Little Sammy Cheshire. How's business lately?"

I shrugged. "Fine I guess. And for God's sake I'm 21."

He chuckled. "I don't care HOW old you are; you're still a kid to me."

He rubbed the woman's arm; she seemed to acknowledge it. "Meet Stella: newest member of _Fine Dine_. Ordered her from that fancy store on North Street. Isn't she a beauty?"

I looked at her; she looked at me and blinked like she barely recognized my existence. Then I said, "Whatever."

He just laughed again. "Don't worry. She's still in the stages of purchase you know. It takes a day for the personality to kick in, among other things."

Grandpa's hand pushed me to the side as he brought out the processor I fixed. "You know you could save a lot of money of you stopped purchasing androids for your little restaurant. With the cost of maintenance, you'd be better off hiring actual people!"

Jacque pulled out a check book. "What? And loose all my precious babies? Not a chance! Besides…they complain when you slap them on the behind!"

Both Esteban and Jacque always laughed at this, like it was just some inside joke between them.

He scribbled out our payment on the check and ripped it out. "You know…that parade out there's really something huh?"

Grandpa grit his teeth. "Yeah…something shitty."

Jacque nodded. "Despite that…I heard on the radio that there's quite a commotion going on. Something about gunfire."

Grandpa chuckled. "The day one of thoze bloated dragons get axed iz the day I sell this store: Unlikely. It vas probably one of dem doing the shooting."

Jacque put the check on the counter. "Just be weary. I need to get this baby home. Delila can't lie around collecting dust all day now can she."

He gestured Stella to pick up the processor. She held it under her chest and they proceeded out the door.

Grandpa looked down with his eyes half open. I could tell he had stayed up all night working on that processor's parts. All I did was assemble it.

I gave him the check. "Why don't you keep the whole check?"

He stared at it for a long time and pushed it back. "No. A deal iz a deal. I vasn't known as a man who took charity. Even from my own flesh n'blood."

He pushed it to my chest and gave a worn smile. "Take it. All of it. I hav' no need for it at the moment. The shop's doing very 'vell…"

-CLANK-

Just as he said that, one of the lights attached to the walls snapped, the wires ripping out of the walls, and fell into a bin that was fittingly labeled _junk_.

I looked at him; he looked at me with wide eyes.

We both laughed harder than we had in a long time.

"You see?" He chuckled, wiping tears from his eyes. "Even the store is supplying us!"

We had our hands on each others shoulders, trying to hold the other up straight as we recovered from the joke.

Then we looked at each other and smiled.

"I know I don't say thiz enough but…I'm damn glad to hav' you here Sam." He said.

I nodded. "Glad to be here old man."

Then I gave him a strong hug.

…I didn't think that touching moments could happen in these times.

The world is filled to the brim with poverty, crime, and anarchical domination. The rich get rich while the most of us fight over the scraps.

And yet…I didn't care about that.

I've got a grandfather who loves me, and a job that will keep me ok for a little while longer. Sure I got no education, or fancy car or androids, or even a girlfriend.

But…it's nice to think that things are in the shitter just yet.

Grandpa looked down at his wrist watch and looked at me. "The scrap's been here for almost an hour!"

"SHIT!" I shouted.

We have a deal with several scrap traders on the docks that deliver us an entire bin of scrap every week; kind of like a reverse trash day.

However, they don't leave the bins locked. And to us Outer Ringers, an unlocked container is like wrapping it in berri bills.

Esteban shrugged. "Oh relax. Ve'll be fine. Might as well go around back to see vhat's left."

I nodded. "You manage the fort, I'll be back."

He nodded and gave me a salute off.

I walked through the garage to the back door and walked through.

In the alleyway you could hear the chattering and bustling of South Street.

_Quite a commotion going on out there._

The bin laid next to the door way: all big and blue with our mascot on the door.

I lifted the door to see the contents.

Not too bad: seems only a few folks saw what was in it and just grabbed what they could carry.

Plenty of pieces of broken devices, dials, a few metal sockets and joints, gears, bolts and nails, screws and hammer heads, the usual.

I found a pretty good data dial inside that no one spotted: lucky us. Those are super rare to find in the scrap.

Those are the dials that are used in every android: they supposedly store electronic frequencies and charges that activate certain parts of their movement and behavior.

Don't ask me how _that_ works, I'm not a programmer.

-BOOM-

Something echoed in the alleyway.

I looked out from the bin and looked at the corner: it wasn't even three meters from the doorstep.

The sound changed: then it sounded like…foot steps.

Running foot steps.

I reached for my back pocket: I kept my trusty crescent wrench there.

I wasn't going to let another bastard steal my scrap.

In almost an instant, a figure turned the corner and collided with me, almost knocking me to the ground.

I swung my wrench instinctively and knocked his hat off.

He pushed away and our eyes met for about a second.

A grown man: scruffy beard, blond hair, brown eyes, and a scar that looked like the letter W on his cheek.

After that brief second, he said one something.

"The revolution has begun…few must die to save the many."

Then he ran as fast as he could down the alleyway and turned the corner.

At that moment, I had no idea the full impact of what he had just done to me.

I looked to the ground at his hat, and at something else he must have dropped.

It was…a gun.

I recognized the model from an artillery guide I used to own: a Rifle Revolving Pistol I think it's called, or R.R. for short.

Gray steel with a bone handle. They don't make those anymore.

The chamber was empty, no ammo had been inside. Yet the muzzle still felt oddly warm.

Then I heard even more foot steps, what sounded like a whole legion of them.

"Oh for God's sakes!" I said and closed the bin door.

"**FREEZE!**"

In almost an instant, the entire alley was filled with Navy soldiers.

Several of them seemed to have appeared from the roof tops, and roped down on the opposite side of me.

I suddenly realize what was going on.

_Shit! That idiot was running from the Navy! I should have caught him!_

"Officer! That guy was just…"

-BANG-

One fired a shot at me, hitting me in the leg.

"**YEOW**!"

That was the first time I had ever felt such pain. I fell to the ground in pain, holding my shin.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"Another word and we will execute you on the spot!" One of the gunmen shouted.

I looked up in pain and saw one of them walk towards me. With one hand he grabbed my head, pressed me against the scrap bin and put my wrists in hand cuffs.

"You are hereby under arrest for the assassination of Celestial Dragon Theodore. All of your rights have there for been taken away. You will have no due process, no trial, no chance of parole."

…I couldn't even process what was going on.

_Me? Kill somebody? How…why am I…_

My sight trailed to the ground. The revolver with the bone grip…

_I'm…innocent._

"I'm…innocent…"

The officer halted his speech and looked at me in disgust. "You are at the scene holding the weapon. You match the description; northern man with blond hair. You have zero chance of escaping the law."

"No…NOOOO!"

I started struggling even more. He barked an order for back up.

"GRANDPA! GRANDPAAAA!"

I screamed frantically, which might have been my biggest mistake.

I couldn't see anything. I was pressed to the ground.

The only noises I could hear were the sound of the back door slamming open.

Then…

-BANG- -BANG-

Then…it was dark.

And cold.

And I lost consciousness for God knows how long.

* * *

><p>I awoke to a hazy and unfamiliar setting.<p>

I felt the sensation of rocking from bellow me; swaying.

I was on a ship: that much I could tell.

I tried to rub my head with my left hand, but my right hand came up with it.

My hands were bound together by metal bands: cuffs.

My legs were in chains as well.

My leg was pulsing from pain. I could see the bullet had been taken out, and they just wrapped it in faded bandages.

I was on a cold, metal floor with my back to a wall.

Metal bars formed a wall in front of me.

I was in a jail cell: that much I could tell.

Beyond that was an empty room with a metal door with a porthole in it. The walls had the insignia of the Marines: two blue half circles with what looked like a skinny wrench underlining it.

My life was fucking over: that much I could tell.

-SLAM-

The door was slammed open, and a huge menacing looking man walked in.

Big upper body, long slender legs, a face that looked like a bull dog. He wore a green suit with a black tie and a ruffled shirt under his suit jacket. And he had the usual Marine jacket/cape with hat like most of those officials wore.

His eyes were dark. Then he tilted his head and showed me his beady black eyes.

"You've caused us quite a problem for us you know." He said, like he was scolding me a little kid. "Did you really think you could have gotten away with it? Was it worth your own life?"

"Please sir." I pleaded weakly. "I'm innocent. I work at a scrap dealer shop…"

"Cheshire's Chop n' Shop yes." He said. "Owned by Esteban Cheshire, a man who was previously held accountable for several debts to several corporations, and fled to the Outer Ring to escape them. Quite a risky move; guess it runs in the family."

I was on the verge of tears. "Please sir! I saw the man! He ran past me! He did! He dropped the gun! I'm innocent!"

He slammed his foot down; the whole ship began to shake.

"Enough. The more you speak of it, the more it upsets me."

He got close to the case, but did not touch it.

"Do you expect me to be able to do anything about this? That you can just give me an excuse and you can go home? To your dirty little shop and sell trash and live happily ever after?"

I got even closer and glared as evilly as I could. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

He looked into my eyes as I did his. His intense look began to fade.

He stood back up and turned around. "It's out of my hands. The Nobles want the head of the man who killed their Theodore. You are the prime suspect. Even if you had an alibi there's no evading the wrath of the Celestial Dragons."

Something horrible occurred to me in the back of my head.

I crawled back to my original position. "My grandpa's dead…isn't he…"

The man paused before saying, "Yes. The firing squad that apprehended you shot him when he attacked the officer."

I swallowed back a sob, and looked at him.

He turned his head so he was looking at me over his shoulder.

"If what you say is true, you're only alibi is resting at the bottom of the ocean."

Then I couldn't hold it back anymore.

"My grandpa…didn't wanna be buried at sea…he wanted to…be buried with his best girl…at the cemetery around the…"

Tears streamed down my face.

"WHAAAAAHAHAHAAAAA!"

I screamed at the injustices of the world. I yelled for the end to come. I cried in memory of my beloved grandfather.

The man turned his head and left me with these final words.

"We are taking you to the max security prison Impel Down, where you will be held until you will be executed by forty nine gunshots of the forty nine remaining member of the World Nobles. Reflect on your actions until judgment day."

* * *

><p>I lost track of when I passed out from the exhaustion, and exactly how long I was out.<p>

It wasn't until I was rudely awoken by the whack of a wooden staff that I resumed my tears.

"The little murderer's crying? Aw, how sad." The soldier taunted me.

There were two of them standing outside the cage laughing.

"No way this loser could have killed a Celestial Dragon. Those are locked up tighter than Admiral Chizurru's virginity!"

They both shared another laugh, I just looked at them in sadness.

Then one of them opened the door and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"Let's go."

I was forced to walk across a steel battleship: although apparently they had finally removed the bullet from my leg.

It still pained me to walk.

Six men with guns followed me from front and behind off the ship.

I walked down to the docks and looked in the distance.

A humongous gray and blue building was in view, like a giant cylinder of despair.

Impel Down.

One soldier nudged me forward to make me move.

My shackles jingled and shook as I stepped towards those humongous gates.

I remembered that the law dictated that anyone who harmed a Celestial Dragon got en entire fleet of Government ships and a Marine Admiral sent after them to bring them in.

I could only dread to think of what they were going to do to me.

-CLANK- -CLANK-

The sound of metal being banged against the floor sounded, making all the soldiers stand at attention and salute.

"Welcome…to _my_ Impel Down." The voice of an old man said.

There was an old man in a purple robe standing at the gates, accompanied by two other guards.

He had a strange striped cap on, a old withered face covered in scars, and held a long metal pitchfork that tinged with blue on the tips.

His face however was very strange: with a very wide brow that stuck out on both sides and a long tube-like chin pointed to the floor.

He coughed and wheezed for a moment. "You know, I've waited several decades to say that, and yet it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth when I say it. But what do I know; he's only been dead for a month HEH!"

"That sort of behavior is very inappropriate at this moment, Warden." The guard to the right said in distain.

Just by looking at him I could tell he was more important than the rest of them: his guard uniform was dark green instead of the regular tan that most of them were wearing.

And his face showed signs of battle as well: several stitched scars across his nose and forehead.

The Marines shouldered their guns and bowed to him before stepping back.

The humongous man with the bull dog face appeared behind me, and walked passed me.

"Here to transfer the prisoner to Level Six, where he will wait until his public execution tomorrow." The man said unemotionally.

The warden nodded. "Well take _good_ care of him Admiral Barros. Guards, escort the prisoner to the decontamination chamber."

Two guards gripped my chains and pushed me forward.

I looked at the bull dog man with awe.

_So he's a Marine Admiral?_

He didn't look at me as I was pushed through the gates.

Most of the building was solid gray stone, with black metal bars everywhere.

The gates were controlled by huge metallic devices.

One look and I could just tell which panel would open up to the main power line.

Not that I would ever plan to escape…I mean I'm no Pirate King Luffy.

I walked underneath the second gate. The sounds of screaming and yelling could be heard echoing towards me.

They led me to a strange part of the hallway that was covered in metal. A single red circle was painted in the center.

"Step on the circle." They said, pushing me forward.

I obeyed.

-SHUNK-

In an instant, a metal container enveloped me.

Then it started spewing incredibly hot steam in all directions.

For the next minute I couldn't do anything but writhe and scream as incredibly hot steam built up in the small metal room. I couldn't even bump into the walls or my body would be burned.

-SSSSSSSS-

It stopped.

The room was lifted up and left me on the hot metal floor, breathing heavily.

"Sterilization Complete." A woman's voice said.

Two guards grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me forward.

The screams could be heard clearly now. I was blinded by the cleaning process, but I could hear.

Dozens, maybe hundreds of prisoners were being tortured, beaten, maybe even killed in the cells near me.

"We've increased the level of brutality by another 5% in the last month since you've taken charge, Warden." One of the guards said.

"As it should be." The old man said. "We don't want to risk anymore prison breaks since that last fiasco Magellan caused. How long was it? Maybe three years ago. I told him to separate those two pirates, in case they scheme something. But no matter!"

I was dropped to my knees; my vision still hadn't improved.

"In my younger days I dreamed to be in charge of this prison, and now that I'm almost a century old, things are finally starting to…"

He just kept talking about his life and how he wanted to rule and…I didn't really care about what he was talking about.

The floor from bellow us started to descend slowly.

I could hear gears grind: an elevator. Old model, the pistons needed some work.

I don't know how long we were on that elevator, but it seemed like hours.

I tried to open my eyes every now and again, but it was either the pain was too great to open them or the images were too horrible to witness.

Forests of blood…monstrous breasts…bubbling lakes of fire…the howls of wolves…

I felt hot, then burning, then freezing, then…it all seemed to stop.

My vision returned to me, but everything still looked fuzzy.

I could only hear the voices of idle chatter.

"And here you are!" The warden concluded. "Level 6."

It appeared to be quite…plain looking.

Gray walls with dozens of cages of stainless steel studded bars.

The cages were of various sizes, one of them was absolutely humongous. I mean it took up the entire back wall from floor to ceiling.

I was pushed forward, and stumbled a bit past a few cages.

I couldn't see anyone's faces, only vague shadows of who inhabited the cages.

The guard with the green outfit walked past me and pulled something out that jingled.

-CHUNK-

He opened a cage door and held it open as he gestured me in.

I stumbled forward, trying to look at his face as I walked past him.

There was no emotion on his face: in fact, it seemed rather uninterested in what was going on with me.

But, in a split second, my sight seemed to improve just enough for me to get a clear glimpse of his eye.

There was no doubt in my mind that he was an android.

I stepped into the big, dark, and rather empty cage.

"You will remain here, in _my_ cage for the next 24 hours until you will be put to death before a crowd of people." The Warden said rather snidely. "Pleasant dreams, HE!"

He cackled a bit, then coughed a bit, then gestured the guards to follow him out.

Then I was alone; standing in a big dark cage, with only twenty four hours left to live, before I was executed for a crime that I didn't commit.

I fell to my knees and looked down with despair.

_Grandpa…he's gone. I'm the only Cheshire left…oh God…_

The thought of my entire family line being erased made my stomach turn in knots.

I cupped my hands and pressed them against my face, still sensitive from the initial cleaning.

I cried silently for…I didn't even care how long…

-JINGLE-

Chains rattled in the cage, and they weren't mine.

Then some slight groans and mumbles. I wasn't alone in the cage.

"Is…is someone there?" I said weakly.

"Is someone here?" The deep voice said. "Of course there's someone here."

The figure slid over a bit so his body caught the dim light from the end of the cage, but I could still barely make him out.

It was an old man: he wore the prison pants but had a big black coat draped over his sides with his arms tucked in the sides, leaving his chest bare.

I couldn't see his face that well, only part of his right face was showing. But there was a noticeable scar on his chest. It sort of looked like a check mark.

_Why is it criminals have the most obscure scars?_

"Well, I'm here." He said bluntly. "Who are you?"

I didn't answer.

"Come oooon." He groaned childishly. "I asked you a question."

I didn't feel like telling this criminal my name, so I didn't respond.

He scoffed. "Well fine, Jumpsuit. Might as well call you that."

He sighed casually. "So, they said you're gonna be executed?"

I decided since I was going to die, I might as well just say so.

I nodded.

Then he chuckled. "Now what could a scrawny little jumpsuit like you have done to get executed?"

I looked at him coldly. "I was framed. I didn't do ANYTHING! I woke this morning thinking I was going to have a normal day at the scrap shop! AND NOW LOOK WHERE THE FUCK I AM! My grandpa's been killed, there's an assassin on the loose, a Celestial Dragon's been murdered, and I was left with the smoking gun! THAT'S WHAT THE FUCK I'VE DONE YOU FUCKIN OLD MAN!"

He didn't respond at first.

I turned around and plopped to the floor.

"Is…is that true?" He asked curiously. "Are you really innocent?"

I looked at him with wide eyes and said, "Yes. I'm innocent!"

He looked at me again, then paused.

And then, smiled.

"I believe you!"

For some reason, just hearing him say that make me feel a lot better.

The first person to believe me was this random old man in the prison of Hell who doesn't even know who I am.

And that just make me feel grateful.

"Thank you. I really appreciate that."

He nodded like he did me a service. "You're welcome."

We sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Samuel." I said. "Samuel Cheshire. That's my name."

"Pleased to meet you." The old man said.

I looked at him, wondering if he was going to give me his name, but I let it go.

"What happened to your grandfather?" The man asked.

And so for the next few hours, we talked.

Well, no so much _we_ as _I_ talked. He just asked questions.

I told him everything that happened to me this morning, and the Admiral that brought me in, and what I saw in the prison.

Then he asked me about…trivial things. Like how those _machine people_ were doing and the flying ships and whatnot.

I told him all I know, being a mechanic, and even went into detail about everything I knew.

He didn't seem to get it, but that was fine. I enjoyed talking.

"You know what Jumpsuit, this has been the best conversation I've had in a long time." He said politely.

I had taken one of the benches attached to the wall as my seat and nodded. "I know…I'm glad to have talked with someone like this before…"

Then there was that inevitable truth that I was to be put to death in less than a day.

My cheerful mood was instantly crushed.

"…before I die."

"Yeah. That kinda sucks." He said.

Although the words sounded disrespectful, he didn't sound the least bit mocking.

He shifted his weight a bit, causing his many chains to rattle.

"Say. Why are you here? You don't seem like a terrible person." I asked.

His eyes lit up. "Say Jumpsuit, you remember the tales of…pirates right?"

"Pirates?" I asked. "Sailing ships, sword fights, treasure, Gold Roger, Luffy, One Piece, those kind of stories?"

He nodded. "I was a pirate. I was one of the pirates from the Golden Age. Being a pirate was absolutely awesome. I had a good crew too. We fought, we ate, we hunted for treasure…it was amazing."

I was intrigued by his words. "Go on."

He then spoke of how he traveled the Grand Line, back before the Marines had taken control of it. He fought countless foes and saw amazing sights that you could never see today.

The more he spoke, the stronger I felt. I even began to imagine what it would have been like, saw like, _felt_ like…to be a pirate.

"That sounds amazing." I said.

He nodded. "It is. The age of Pirates isn't dead, despite what these Marines want you to believe. There are those who still fight, still sail under the Jolly Roger, still seek adventure and excitement!"

I sighed. "Yeah. I bet there are."

I looked down in sadness. "Not that I should care anymore, seeing as how I'm gonna die in a day."

The old man frowned. "Why do you have to be so depressing?"

I looked at him. "Because I'm gonna die you fucking old man!"

He gave me a mean look. "Well EXCUUUUSE me you Damn Jumpsuit!"

We glared at each other for a minute. Followed by a minute of laughter.

I couldn't explain this guy. He could be stupid one second, then mean another, then nice and back to stupid in less than a minute.

And I couldn't help but feel…safe around this guy.

He shifted his weight a bit, and sighed.

"Samuel, I want to thank you."

I looked at him curiously. "What for?"

"These last few hours have been…well…the best few hours I've had in a long time! You're a real cool guy ya know that? I haven't felt this good since I was with my crew."

"What happened to them?"

He looked down in sadness. "It was my own reckless fault. We got separated, and they almost got completely wiped out by the Marines. When I found them, they were barely breathing. So…I gave myself to the Marines so that my crew could have time to escape."

I could see a tear stream down his face.

"I haven't seen them in…years. I hope there alive and well. If anything…I'm glad I was able to protect them."

"I'm sorry I asked." I said respectfully.

He shook his head. "You shouldn't be. That was decades ago. Nothing but a tear."

He tried to pick his arm up, but his arm seemed to be weighted down by his cuffs.

"Now Samuel, I want to ask you a question." He said.

I waited.

"Do you want to find this...person? The real killer?"

"YES!" I shouted immediately.

He nodded. "Now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret…"

He pointed to himself.

"I'm the only guy who can get you out of here."

My eyes grew wide. "Really?"

He nodded. "But here's the catch. If I can get you out of here, you'll be an outlaw. They'll put a bounty on your head probably. They might even send Admirals after you."

My hands were shaking.

"But is that worse than just sitting here, waiting to be executed?"

I stood up tall. "If you can get me out of here, do it."

He looked at me. "Are you absolutely sure?"

I nodded. "If I'm gonna die anyways, it's not like I got anything to loose."

He cracked a smile.

"Now, before we get this underway, there are a few big things you need to know. To get out of here, you have to go from Level 6, to Level 5 and 4 and so forth. You will have a temporary relief from guards for about ten minutes. But if you take too long, they'll start attacking you."

"What can I do? I'm just one guy." I said.

He smiled more. "You have to make allies. This prison is full of pirates, convicts and top class fighters that would gladly fight for a way out of here. Ask them to fight, then open their cages."

I couldn't believe what he was saying. "Are you crazy? You really think this is possible."

He stood up and stepped forward.

His entire body was showing.

The scar on his chest wasn't a check mark, but was in fact an X.

And there was another little scar…under his left eye.

"I know it's possible." He said with a huge grin on his face.

He breathed inwards and screamed, "OOOOOOOOOOY!"

Two guards were rushing towards us.

"He's awake! Trank him before he get's worked up!"

He grinned. "Newbies."

He breathed inward, then…

-**BWOOOOOOOSH**-

His body seemed to emit an enormous wave of energy.

A wave of nausea came over me.

However, the two guards collapsed on the spot.

One of them slid to the door of the gate.

I could see a set of keys on his belt.

The old man collapsed against the wall.

"Old man!"

"Hadn't done that in…years."

I tried to help him, but he pushed me away.

"No time…you have to hurry. They won't be like this forever."

I ran to the fallen guard, grabbing his keys from his belt.

After several tries, I was able to find the key to unlock my shackles. Then the key to the door.

I flung the door wide open.

"Come on Old Man! Let's go!"

He looked at me tiredly.

"Come on! I can't leave you!"

"Look kid. My time is past. I'm a withered old man. My crew is gone; I'd just get in the way of the new."

He held up a fist: there was an X tattooed to the arm.

"Hey Jumpsuit. When you find the guy who framed you, punch him real hard for me!"

I gave him a big smile and nodded. "I won't forget this…thank you...Pirate King."


	2. Chapter 2

_Ten minutes prior._

* * *

><p><em>Nine minutes and 53 seconds till 10:00. Nine minutes and 49 seconds till 10:00. Nine minutes and 45 seconds until 10:00.<em>

This prison can drive people to a wide variety of behavioral patterns.

One example I saw was scratching doodles into the stone floor with their shackles and finger nails. Another man had a nasty habit of creating songs and singing them to his inmates. Another spent his time shouting and making one-sided conversations with the guard that was posted near him, despite the fact they never respond.

That man was removed from his cell block on the twelfth of this month, at exactly 2:15 p.m. The cell door slammed on the third second of the 15.

I would know.

You see my prison habit is that I keep the time. There is coincidently a large clock installed on the wall opposite of my cage, and so I took it amongst myself to count every second of the day.

My name…Mathew. Or Mat "Big Gun" Murphy as I was called. I was sentenced in this prison for life, for the heinous crime of killing the second son of the President of the Republic of Stanton, one of the major political giants of the West Blue.

To me, and to Janet, it was just another job. Another job, but with a generous pay.

Me and Janet were given the description to kill a high ranking official by a shady organization: one which contacted us by gull-carrier. Not many people nowadays use gulls to transport parchment.

We went in, Janet killed a few guards, I broke some necks, and she fired a bullet right into the prince's heart.

Unfortunately the exit plan wasn't as smooth. I was a mercenary, not an assassin.

We were caught and…I lost Janet.

Janet. Just thinking of her long and…slender body in my hands…

She was the most precious thing I had, and they took her away from me. I thought I would loose my mind being trapped in here without her.

And so, now I keep the time.

_30 seconds till 10:00. 26 seconds till 10:00. 20 seconds till 10:00._

* * *

><p><em>Ten minutes prior. Shift in perspective.<em>

"YAH! Ease up on the goods you creeps!"

Between the hot sauna entrance and these heavy chains on my wrists…do they expect me to carry these things all the time?

Not like it matters, I'll be out of here in no time.

The guards unlocked the gates to a cramped little cell block, and just shoved me inside without a word.

I gave them a puppy-dog face and pleaded, "Oh please let me go! I knew what I did was wrong! Please…"

"Melissa "Succubus" Heartstone." The guard so rudely cut me off. "Current bounty 220 Million berri. Special orders are to isolate you from any male contact."

_Oh shit! It's a couple of those walking tin cans. Won't be getting any special treatment from them._

Then the two emotionless guards just marched off, completely ignoring me.

I frowned and laid on the stone floor.

I mean I've done worse in the past, but I was getting used to the special treatment from the boys…

Beauty _and_ brains are hard to come by after all.

But…I admit where I was wrong.

I had a master plan, a plan that would catapult me out of the life of piracy and into royalty!

I had spent months trying to seduce that old fool who ran one of the last remaining kingdoms in the Grand Line.

What was his name again? Oh right, Harru-Chu.

Big softy, real tan, was great with a paint brush but lousy in bed…

But, for the sake of my future, I had to manage.

The problem was he already had a frigid bitch of a wife that was an obstacle I had to overcome.

But I knew she wasn't giving him much loving, you can just tell by the look of some women.

And so I batted my eye, said a few lines, showed him some skin, and I was in business.

It was all going greatly, a little slow I admit but he wanted to be sure I was the one.

I mean what's so difficult about divorcing your wife?

But she found out about us, found out about my true background, and despite how much I fought I was caught.

I should have seen it. You see there were servants that would assist Harru and would see me be with him, and I didn't secure their silence.

And now I'm stuck behind bars…

FUCK! And usually I'm so thorough…

"How long do I have to be in this pit?"

* * *

><p><em>Back to present. Shift to Samuel.<em>

I ran through hallway after hallway, most of the convicts were passed out like those two guards.

All I had now was a ring of keys in my hand and a rifle I took from one of the guards slung around my shoulder.

The exit…the exit was to the very far left of my current position. That big huge elevator I was led through before. That was my ticket out of here.

No one was awake.

_How can I make allies if everyone's passed out God damn it!_

-BANG-

A gunshot ripped a hole on the side of my jumpsuit.

One guard was firing at me.

"I thought you were all asleep!"

"Detain the prisoner!" He shouted.

I took a hard left down a corridor.

Then I waited, holding the rifle like a club.

As soon as I heard his foot steps, I swung the gun as hard as I could.

-BAM-

I hit him right in the face.

He fell to the ground in shock.

_That was way to hard to be flesh and bone. It was like hitting raw steel._

_He's an android._

I quickly ran down the corridor, trying to find cover.

All that was there was a dead end.

The guard stood up and picked up his rifle.

He aimed right at me.

"SHIT!"

I pulled up my rifle and aimed it at him.

-BANG-

-BANG-

My bullet missed him completely.

His however, knocked the gun out of my hand and sent it flying to the side.

_Crap._

The guard was reloading a clip into his gun.

I looked around.

With luck I spotted a prisoner in a cage, looking at me with confusion.

I scrambled with the keys and hastily said, "Look, I-may-not-know-you-and-you-may-be-some-psychopathic-murderer, it's just that, well, I'm busting out of here and I really need help so I can survive so can you please get rid of him please?"

I held up my keys and unlocked his door, then stepped back cautiously.

He was a South Blue man, very dark in completion and had a small head of black hair.

He was a big guy, I suppose, older and stronger than me no doubt.

I ran over quickly and unlocked his cuffs then darted back quickly.

The chains fell on the ground and he rubbed his wrists.

The guard was done reloading his gun.

"Uh, I don't want to rush you, but I'm…ok that's it!"

I picked up my rifle and got ready to swing it.

-BOOM-

The man appeared above me, his one hand completely hauled my two handed swing.

_This guy…I can't even budge it._

"Is that any way to treat…a lady?" His deep voice boomed.

"What?"

He pulled the rifle effortlessly from my hand and inspected it.

"Standard military grade patrol rifle. .308 Caliber, hasn't been used much if not at all."

The guard fired his gun.

-BANG-

I ducked in fear.

-TINK-

I looked up.

The man held his gun up like…he was defending himself with it.

"You…used the gun to deflect the bullet?" I asked cautiously.

He stepped forward and twirled the rifle over his head.

"Let us fight together, my darling." He called.

_He better not be talking about me…_

The guard held up his rifle in defense.

-BAM- -BOOM-

With several calculated blows, he used the rifle as a melee weapon. A rifle butt to the stomach, the barrel used to break his arm. Then, he pushed the muzzle into the guard's chest and fired.

-BANG-

The guard fell to the ground.

Then in a flash, he twirled back and aimed the gun at me.

I froze in terror.

_Imagonnadiegonnadiegonnadie…_

-BANG-

The bullet whizzed past me and…

-CRASH-

It shattered a giant clock behind me.

Didn't really notice there was a clock in this place.

"I am a timekeeper, no more." He said in relief.

He held the rifle in his hands and sighed.

"You will have to suffice." He spoke to it.

I looked at him, then back at his cage.

I picked the keys up out of the cuffs.

I looked at him.

"I need you're help." I said.

He seemed to realize my existence.

"I…I don't want to sit in this prison until I'm put to death. So I'm busting out of here. I need all the help I can get."

He stared at me coldly.

"You seem very strong. You'd make a powerful ally."

His face didn't change.

"Will you help me?"

"What is your plan?" He asked.

"Getting out of here." I said.

"Do you know how?" He asked.

"Yes. Go up that elevator." I said, pointing to it.

"The elevator is only accessible in the warden's office and unless he activates it, you have to go by stairs which will lead you though the five levels of hell. Are you prepared for such a thing?"

"I won't know till I get there."

"And what about when you do finally reach the top? How will you leave the prison? And where will you go?"

I paused.

"Well, since I came this far, I guess I'll...steal one of their ships! I know a thing or too about sailing. And we can go to the Outer Ring, in Marineford."

"Why, after breaking out of Impel Down, would you go to the Marine capital of the Grand Line?"

…

"Because I…I need to take care of some things there."

We both stared at each other.

"Will you help me or not?"

He looked around, accessing his situation.

"I do admit, I owe you a bit of gratitude for giving me the feeling of battle once more. Haven't felt this since my old merc days. So…I am obligated to assist you."

He walked towards me, and held out his hand.

"I am Mathew Murphy, and will gladly follow you."

I smiled and shook his hand. "Samuel Cheshire. Glad to have you."

I felt so accomplished with myself! I made my first ally!

"HEEEEEY! OVER HERE!"

A woman's voice shouted at us.

I looked back and saw at the end of the corridor a shackled had was waving at us.

I rushed over, eager to gain a new ally.

At least that was what my mind was convincing my brain was the truth. There were still all those other variables like the _prisoners,_ and _ethics_, and the fact that this was all crazy.

But, I had to do what I had to do.

I looked in the cage and…-GULP-

On the floor, a…beautiful woman was lying on the stone floor.

She had long, purple hair, tan skin, and red lips. And her body…oh her body was just all sorts of right.

Huge breasts, a slim waist, she was such a babe!

"Please…sir…" she gasped.

"Are…are you alright Miss?" I asked.

"Please, I need to get out of here…it's…so hard to breath."

She tugged on her prison outfit, trying to…show off the shape of her...lovely chest.

I paused.

Something occurred to me.

"I'm sorry, I would love to help, but I…I just can't work with fat cows like you…"

"WHAT?"

She tried to pounce on me, but forgot there was a set of bars in her way.

-BAM-

She growled at me, with fiery red eyes and a evil look of hate.

I knew she was full of shit the moment she screamed HEEEEEY!

I'm no fool. I've been played by too many a girl to be a fool anymore.

"Just kidding. But nice to show your true colors."

She growled at me. "Now listen here you little prick! I need to get out of here!"

"Then why didn't you just ask?" I said causally. "I was already freeing people trying to bust out of here."

"You think I want to waist my time fighting wave after wave of guards for your sorry ass?" She said. "I wanted you to get closer so I could snake the keys off you and get out on my own!"

"If you want out of here, then you have to cooperate!"

"Cooperate with you? I'd rather stay here." She puffed.

"Fine. Do it." I said.

She snarled some more, then rolled her eyes.

"OK! Fine, I'll help you. Figures you need my help after all. You obviously recognized me and knew you needed Melissa Heartstone."

I cocked my head to the side. "Who?"

That made her even madder.

I turned to face Matthew. "HEY MATTHEW! I found another person!"

I turned back around to open the lock, but the keys had disappeared.

The girl was already unlocking her cuffs with my set of keys.

"Oh I'm sorry," She said sarcastically, "I just had to help myself to your set of keys."

_That sounds like she's implying something._

After he chains fell to the ground, things got a little…weird.

To unlock the cage, a long rope like thing wrapped around the door key. It was slender and purple, with a little pointed thing at the end.

Then I realized…it was her tail!

SHE HAD A TAIL!

-CHINK-

The door unlocked, and she stepped out swaying her hips side to side.

Her…tail dropped the keys into my hand, and then closed my gapping mouth.

_Okay…that's just weird._

She walked past me, he tail still perked up in the air.

_How does that even work?_ I thought while looking at her backside. _Animals with tails don't have an ass. And she…definitely has an ass._

Seriously though, appearance wise, she had everything. Long flowing hair, stunningly beautiful eyes, perfect complexion, huge round breasts, an hourglass figure, wide hips and a nice round ass!

Not to sound perverted but…she was gorgeous!

Shame her personality and...the fact she was a high level criminal had to ruin the package.

The only weird part was the tail that seemed to grow out of the end of her spine.

She looked at Matt for a bit and raised an eyebrow at him.

"And what are you supposed to be?" She queried.

He looked unaffected by her. "I am Matthew Murphy. I was freed just like yourself."

"Ok ok people! We can talk later!"

They both looked at me smiling at them.

"We've got a long way to go before we're out of here."

By my calculations, our time was almost up. If what the old man said was right, we had about two minutes before whatever he did would wear off.

I pointed my gang forward. "This way! We have to hurry!"

I grabbed the keys, and in a few short moments, unlocked every cell on the row.

"What are you doing?" Melissa complained. "They're all passed out!"

"But when they do wake," Mathew deducted, "it will be very problematic for the jailors to clean up."

"Exactly, now hurry upward! We have to make it to the stairs!"

And so we took off.

I led the party, quickly navigating the corridors and focusing on the giant column where the elevator was.

-WHOOOOOOOOO-

Just as we reached the stairway, loud sirens went off.

I had to cover my ears to stop them from hurting.

"Looks like it wore off!" I shouted. "HURRY! Up the stairs!"

Mathew quickly ran upwards, and Melissa followed behind.

The sirens started to die down a bit, and I looked back to where we started.

"What are you doing?" She shouted. "Hurry up!"

I held up my hand.

Before I knew it, a huge mob of dazed, confused and scary looking convicts gathered near the bottom of the stairs. They were of various sizes and backgrounds, all of them looked powerful and really scary.

They looked at me, and I held my keys up high.

"LISTEN!" I shouted. "It was I who freed you! I have given you all a second chance at life! And all I ask in return is for you to escape with me! After we all escape, you can go wherever you want! There will be ships we can steal!"

They looked at my small demeanor, and some jeered and rolled their eyes.

"LOOK! I'm not asking you to follow me!" I shouted some more, over the sirens. "All I'm asking is for you to do what you want! Get pay back on those lousy Marine bastards that locked you up in the first place!"

"He's right!" One of them said and stepped forward.

He was a short, very wide man with an incredibly wide mouth and wild red hair.

"I'm glad to be out of here! And you all should owe this boy your lives!"

I had no clue who this guy was, but I liked him for sticking up for me.

"He freed you, and all he wants is for us all to be free! No longer will you be trapped behind bars, like myself, for the remainder of your lives. Once we are freed, we will form a bond, a crew, under the proud leadership of the one who brought us to this point!"

_Yeah…maybe he's…_

"Now Pirates! Murderers! Brothers in Crime! Let's show these pussy foot Marine's just who they messed with! WHO'S WITH ME?"

All the men were cheering loudly by this point.

_Yeah! Wait…with him?_

They raised their arms high and charged up the stairs.

They knocked me, and Melissa and Mathew, out of the way.

Then the short wide man walked mast me, with a huge grin on his wide face.

"I thank you lad. Me and the rest of the lot will cause a muck up in Level 5." He said, resting a hand on my shoulder. "You're welcome to follow me if you like."

"You should be following me! I'm the guy who freed you!" I complained.

He laughed his head off as he walked past me. "Ohohoho no my boy. You've got it all backwards. You'll learn in time."

And with that, he slowly stepped up the steps, with his hands folded behind his back.

I stood up and looked behind me at the other two.

"You two will stick with me right?" I asked.

Mathew nodded his head, then looked at Melissa.

She grit her teeth. "Let's get one thing straight here. I'm here for me. I don't like the idea of following anyone! Not you or that creepy little troll. But…you've been more useful than him so…I'll follow you until we get out of here. But after that, we're done. Deal?"

I scratched my head. "Deal? You make it sound like it was an option to begin with."


	3. Chapter 3

At the top of the stairs, a huge set of doors had been flung open. The open doorway was pouring huge amounts of cold, frosty air.

The instant that air hit me, my entire body froze up.

All I had was a jumpsuit on, and it wasn't like that jumpsuit was made for extreme cold.

I looked to the walls, because they all had lined up hooks as if there were supposed to be coats to hang up.

Sadly, no coats were present.

The red haired guy and the prisoners must have already taken them.

"It's too cold!" Mellissa shouted. "We'll freeze to death before we even get through the door!"

Mathew looked unaffected from the cold.

I spotted a smaller doorway to the left of the giant doors.

_Maybe a guard room, or another closet._

"In here!" I shouted to the other two.

I carefully opened the door, but it turned out I didn't have to.

It had been a guard room. However, all the guards had been violently beaten, broken and stripped for clothing.

"No coats, no blankets." Melissa complained. "Damn it!"

She kicked a broken guard in anger.

"Search the room. There has to be something we can use."

We looked through drawers, opened a few closet doors, and didn't find much.

After everything was accounted for we had looted two large wool blankets, six flares, a small automatic pistol with two clips of ammo, and a long rope.

"It's not much." Melissa said despairingly.

I looked at the two blankets. "Maybe we can make some coats out of the blankets and rope. What are the flares for?"

Mathew looked at the pile of items. "You two divide it up. I have no use of any of this."

We looked at him with wonder. "What, you too good for our stolen goods?" Melissa said rudely.

"All I need is this rifle." He said, and turned for the doorway.

Melissa looked at me with confusion. "Where'd you find this nut?"

"He was the only one else conscience after…an old man made everybody faint."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Scratch that: you're both crazy."

I grabbed one of the blankets.

"You have a knife on you by any chance?"

She scratched her head. The extended her finger.

-SHING-

Her nail grew out like a long, curved blade.

"Will this suffice?"

I, once again, had my mouth gapping open in shock.

"What…are you?"

She smiled. "Oh silly boy. I'm a Succubus."

I paused. "A what now?"

"Never mind. It doesn't matter. We won't know each other long enough for it to matter."

By making several calculated cuts with her…claws, and tying enough small pieces of rope in the right places, I had successfully made a make-shift wool coat.

It felt pretty hot when I fastened it to my body, which was a good sign of its heat retaining capabilities.

"Ok, now you." I said to Melissa.

She looked at me with embarrassment.

"Be gentle…I bruise easily."

I wasn't amused.

After suiting her up, I then took the remainder of that piece of rope and wove it around the flares, to make a sash where I could pull one out when I needed it.

Not like it could do us any good in a fight, but who knows.

I also slipped the pistol into the side of my suit, being that Mathew had his rifle and Melissa had her...claws.

We both walked out looking like, well, a couple of idiots with blankets tied onto them.

But it would keep us warm…er than if we went out there with no clothes.

The cold wind was still mighty strong, but Mathew just stood there un-phased like he was made of stone.

"Let's go." I said, covering my face with a piece of my blanket.

And we pushed through.

-WHOOSH-

It was…unbelievable.

Compared to the last prison level, there wasn't much different structure wise. But the entire place was covered with a thick blanket of snow. The ceiling, or what the ceiling should look like was similar to a snow cloud. The stones and jail bars were coated in thick sheets of ice.

I looked at our feet: a large trail of foot prints lead forward.

"We can follow the mob of convict's tracks to the next level." Mathew said.

"But what if they wwwent down the wrong ppppath?" Melissa chattered. "We cccan't trust these people to lllllead us to freedddom. They're abbbbout as clueless as wwwe are about this pplace."

"Then we can at least follow their path of dddestruction in order to avoid a conflict. I rather bbbe behind a large group of prisoners than in their way. Bbbbesides, we have no other options."

Melissa was shivering wildly, her teeth clattering quite loudly.

I too was shivering uncontrollably, my feet were especially cold. I was afraid I'd loose them to frostbite.

Mathew however, remained completely unaffected.

"Huah!" Melissa yelled. "I can't tttake this!"

-RIP-

I could hear her blanket tear.

"HEY! I worked hard on tttthat!"

It only tore in the back side, because the next time I looked at her…

-WHOOSH-

Two large wings ripped out of her snowsuit.

I was, yet again, rendered speechless.

They were dark purple, like her tail, and resembled those of a large bat.

With two test flaps, she lifted herself off the ground and sustained a low altitude.

"That's better." She said cheerfully. "I couldn't stand it walking around in that ankle deep snow."

I looked down at my frozen legs in sadness.

"Let's move!"

I charged forward in the direction of the foot prints, with Mathew and Melissa following me behind.

-AROOOOOOO-

We didn't even take ten steps before we heard a loud howl.

I kept running, but now I was more aware of my surroundings.

"They have wolves?" I shouted in desperation.

"They are the guards of this level." Mathew reported. "They are the only beasts strong enough to wander these extreme conditions."

-WHOOSH-

Something rushed past me, barely missing my chest.

I turned my head to see a ferocious, pure white tundra wolf.

It was about the size of a normal human, but on all fours with long white fur and a crazed look in it's bright orange eyes.

I took a sharp turn and grabbed my rifle club in one hand and my new pistol in the other.

"Huuuuuaaaah!"

I swung it at the damn monster, and fired a single shot at its face. Both attacks missed completely as it tackled me to the ground.

I pressed my hands against it's neck as it furiously tried to eat my face off!

Its huge jaws and sharp teeth barked angrily at me, spit dripping on my face.

Then in an act of desperation, I kicked off the ground and twisted its neck 180 degrees.

-SNAP-

The thing's head went upside down, and went limp.

_I just killed my first…well…anything._

I hate to have admited it, but it felt…good.

Not that I just killed something, but that I proved to be stronger than something else. It wanted me to die, and I refused. And in the end, it's the thing that's dead now.

And not me…

I turned to my "crew," wondering why they didn't back me up to realize…there were more than just one wolf.

It was a pack of seven: four of them surrounded Mathew while the other three desperately leaped at Melissa.

-BAM- -BANG-

Mathew was pretty strong. He used that rifle like a…what was it called…I think it's called a staff.

Three blows to one wolf and then a gun shot into another wolf's face.

Melissa was good too. She used her long nails to slash at the wolfs when they were airborne, and even her long tail was able to wrap around their bodies and fling them to the ground.

_I still wonder…what is a Succ…Succubus? Does that mean she has devil fruit powers? A mutant? Is she a monster?_

Whatever the case was, she was on my side.

Mathew aimed his gun at another wolf, but the gun didn't go off.

In a flash, I could see something terrible happen.

My brain pictured in a millisecond the sight of the wolf leaping off the ground, mouth open wide, right into Mathew.

And in another millisecond, my body reacted.

The wolf was following the motion my brain had predicted, it was basic physics and behavior patterns of animals.

I grabbed the gun I had and did a dive forward with the gun extended.

Mathew still seemed shocked about the gun's misfire, so he pulled his body back in defense.

I chunked the gun at the wolf.

-BAM-

It send the wolf out of its prejudged path away from Mathew.

Mathew knew what to do.

-BAM-

He shoved the rifle butt down on the wolf's head, knocking it out for good.

Mathew looked at me with his usual stone cold attitude.

"You aren't as incompetent as I previously believed." He said.

"Thanks?"

I didn't know how I did it, I just did. I could just see the situation unfold based on all the variables I had predetermined. And then, I reacted on it.

"Are you two dddone?" Melissa yelled at us.

She was flapping her wings above three lacerated wolves impatiently.

Mathew picked up my working rifle and slung it over his shoulder.

"My style requires a functioning rifle, yours does not."

He then tossed me his broken one.

I looked at him with annoyance, but nodded in agreement.

"Let's go, before more wolves show up."

* * *

><p><em>Ten minutes prior…shift in perspective.<em>

-YAWN-

I haven't moved from this spot in about two weeks, I suspect that me butt might be frozen onto the _hollow stone_.

Me' name is Hukufu, or you can call me Hu, or Ku, or Fu, whichever makes you happy.

I have to say, after countless sleeps of time, I've faired well in this _Frozen Hell_ then I thought I would.

Where I come from, there are huge golden trees and fields full of fresh grass. It's full of game and wild beasts perfect for hunting, and villages of silly foreigners just ripe for the pillaging.

The _Ougon_ Country: the Golden Plains.

We were the first tribe of men to reach these plains. They were perfect for us. We lived high in the Gold Woods, with plenty of game and materials to provide for us forever.

But, other people came to our land, and planned to take it from us. It was our land, they had no right to take our trees and steal our food.

So, we fought them. For three generations we fought every tribe of man who came to take our land from us. It all started out simple. Legend tells us we used…superstition to fear the men. But this ancient tactic soon proved to be weak in comparison to combat. And we were already a strong tribe of fighters.

But then, a new tribe appeared, with the mark of a bird, in ships of _hollow stone_ and with sticks of thunder that proved a worthy challenge to our might. We knew we could fend of this new Tribe of the Bird, and it would go down as our greatest fight in legend. But, in the end we were proven…wrong.

We were defeated, our tribe was driven from our land, and several of us were captured.

I haven't seen my brothers in many days. But I do not weep for them. We are taught at a young age not to fear for the dead, makes you weak and taints your will of the fight. Still, I see them in my dreams sometimes…

-AROOOOOOO-

Some sort of ruckus is going on out there.

I shifted from me position in the cage, knocked a little snow off me shoulder, and took a look out the cage.

All of them men, all wearing the guardian's coats, but underneath showed black striped clothes like mine.

Is it a celebration? Or a declaration of war?

The huge mass of men are now engaging the wolven guardians of this frozen tundra in combat.

The wolves were no match. Still, I admire their ferocity.

After a big of thought, I believe I saw their Chieftain. He is small, fat, with hair not unlike a bonfire. He leads his men with words of encouragement and of promises of freedom.

He is not like my Chieftain. Chieftain Ghetefe did lead us with words, but also with power. He fought amongst his men, and would partake in even the most unimpressive of hunts. Because, as he put it, "No hunt, no matter how small or weak the prey is, is a triumph for the tribe!"

This Chieftain is not like that. He kept his distance from the glory of the fight, displaying no skill of battle.

He is no leader in my eyes.

The group shouts cheers of glory and move past my line of sight.

My body shakes, my blood begins to heat.

It would be good to return to the glory of the battle…

* * *

><p><em>Back to present...<em>

The wolves were increasing in numbers now. Not in such large packs, more like small groups of two or three at a time.

Even three of them were little match for us.

Well, by us I mean Mathew and Melissa. I was able to help with what I could do.

Mostly shouting "LOOK OUT!" and "TO YOUR LEFT!" and things like that.

I gripped tightly on my set of prison keys, following the trail of foot prints.

"There! This way!"

The foot print trail widened to more like a circle full of prints, like a huge battle had occurred here.

Dozens of wolves laid broken and beaten, blood coloring the snow red.

-SNARL-

_Oh you got to be kidding me._

There had to be at least twenty wolves in this next wave. They were smart too.

A dozen formed a line in the corridor ahead of us, while the rest circled around to cut off our back.

Then one wolf stepped forward, whom I immediately identified as the alpha.

He was bigger, had a dark shade of gray of fur, and his eyes were red instead of the crazed orange of the lesser ones.

Mathew raised his rifle, Melissa looked to our backs in fear like she was about to run away.

_Think Sam, think. Use your surroundings._

Cages. That was all I could see. No hallways, no other paths to make a detour. Even the cages had nothing useable in them. All I could see were prisoners, frozen in place but had eyes that trailed on me like they were getting a free show.

Then I had an idea.

The instant the alpha barked, I shouted, "INTO THE CAGE!"

I ran to the first cage I could get to, keys in hand, and by sheer luck found the right key on the first go.

-CHUNK-

The giant door wouldn't move.

All three of us pulled with all our might as the wolves began to close in on us.

-CREEEEEEK-

We squeezed into the cage and pulled the door shut as well as we could, but the door's hinges were damaged beyond repair.

It was combination of rusting due to water exposure combined without proper antifreeze technique in these cold conditions.

So it's like rust, plus freezing that rust, which made me surprised the hinge didn't snap.

The wolves clawed at my arm as I yanked it the last bit closed, ripping my sleeve and cutting my arm slightly.

I held it in pain, and with my left foot kicked the wolf in the face with my heel, sending it yelping away.

The wolves started to claw at the cage bars in vain, not really to try and break them but to scare us into trying to leave.

"Now what?" Melissa grumbled, rubbing her arms in the cold. "We're stuck in this jail cell."

Mathew looked at the gun he held. "This gun has three shots left in it, not enough for the wolves outside, but…enough for the three of us…"

"Not an option. I'm trying to escape death, not run towards it." I said, looking outside.

My pistol couldn't finish all of them off, and I couldn't risk using all my ammo up on this level.

The wolves were patrolling the cage, not decreasing in numbers like I had hoped they would.

_The alpha is focused on me. I can see it in his eyes. He's not got to letting me go alive._

I took the broken rifle and released the magazine on it. Then tossed it to Mathew.

"Take it. You need a gun that fires all it can fire right?" I jokingly said.

He looked at me with approval, and slipped it into the side of his pants.

-THUD-

Something shifted in the cage.

We all turned in shock, convinced the cell was empty.

A huge man was in the cell.

He had to be a giant, or at least related to one.

He had to be about eight to ten feet tall, no shirt on and had the larges beard I had ever seen.

It was almost like a backwards cape that came from his face. It covered half his chest, and was coated in icicles.

His nose was big and bulbous, his eyes angular and blank, his normal hair was actually rather short. He looked like his hair was spiky, but that was probably from the ice.

His arms were huge, about as thick as my whole head. His body overall just stunned me and screamed _this is not what a human should look like._

He shifted again, not moving from his spot.

"Um…hello…" I said cautiously.

His arm moved, and reached out to us slowly.

We leaned in to inspect it.

Then, in an instant, it pointed at us.

"How dare YOU run from the glory of battle!" He roared at us.

His voice was very gruff and full sounding, like he was an animal that learned how to speak.

"How dare US?" Melissa shouted back in frustration.

He makes a fist, and then starts to whimper.

"How can one, with the freedom and ability to fight, choose to run and not embrace it? It saddens me, to see one's who CAN fight, but choose NOT to!"

"HEY! We fought a lot of those damn things before we even saw you!" Melissa gloated. "It's not like you've done anything about them!"

I could have sworn I saw a tear come from the corner of his eye.

"Um…is that because you yourself can't fight?"

He looked at me offended. "HOW DARE YOU! I CAN fight! I just…don't have the freedom to…"

Then he went back to sadness.

_I got an idea._

"Well…would you like to?" I asked him.

He looked at me. "Like to what?"

"Like to have the freedom to fight!" I said, and I held my set of prison keys to him.

He looks at them, like he has no idea what they are.

"I can free you, and you can fight all those wolves out there!" I said, looking at his shackles.

He looks at me with confusion. "You…you can do that?"

I nodded.

Then I walked to his chains, took a few tries at his locks and…

-CHINK-

They fell off his massive arms.

"Go for it!"

He rubbed his arms, still sitting down.

He stared at me, like he was waiting for me to do something.

"What? I freed you! I unlocked your shackles! You can MOVE now!"

He shifted his body, but he didn't stand up.

"I cannot do such thing!" He said, mildly disappointed.

I looked at him, and inspected his posture.

_The ice formations gathering around his pants are distressing, not to mention the floor is made of metal and…oh no…_

"Is…is your butt frozen to the floor?"

He nodded. "The hollow stone is very cold, but I haven't felt my but for some time now."

I looked confused. "Hollow stone?"

He nodded, and knocked on the metal floor.

-CLANK- -CLANK-

"You see? It's strange. It's hard like stone, but can't be shaped like our stone weapons. And when you tap it, it makes that sound like a hollow tree. Except…different!"

I looked at this man in awe. "You mean, you don't even know what metal is?"

He looked back at me. "You mean the hollow stone? Is that what it is called in this land?"

I instantly identified the situation.

_He must be a tribal: a group of nomads isolated on their own island from contact from the outside world. Not sure what his cultural background is, but must be based similar to a warrior/Viking mythos._

I had an idea.

I took two of the flares, and stuck the top off of both of them.

-FSSSSS-

They both sparked into two sticks of bright red fire.

The man jumped in shock, or as best you can when your ass is frozen to the ground.

"I'm going to set these flames near your rear, to try and thaw your butt out, ok?"

He didn't want to ask questions, he just stared at the flames in awe.

So I sat them down, hoping somehow this impossible scenario would play out in my head.

-AROOOO-

-BAM-

The wolves were enraged.

The started tackling the cage with all their might, their eyes fixated on the flares.

I had an idea.

I took the third flare and lit it.

The wolves' eyes were now fixated on my hand.

I wove the flare around, there eyes followed the motions.

Then with one strong toss I flung it out of a hole in the cage.

Most of the wolves followed the flare arc away, sticking into the snow just so the flare stuck out of the white powder.

But then some came back to tackling the cage to get at the two in the cage.

"The flares seem to have some strange attraction to these wolves." Mathew deducted.

"I think they were trained to follow the flare, maybe to follow the flare wherever it may go. As a measure to protect the guards if they ever had to come out here."

"Brilliant deduction smart ass." Melissa said hastily. "Now are we just going so sit around and wait for this giant ass giant's ass to thaw out, or are we going to GET OUT OF HERE!"

The wolves began tackling the door.

-BAM-

-CREEK-

They were pretty damn smart.

"Away from the door! We'll have a better chance if we let them file in one by one!"

I got prepared to whack them as hard as I could with my club, Mathew aimed his rifle, and Melissa extended her claws in defense.

-CREEK-

_Here they come..._

-WHOOSH-

-RIP-

Something huge pushed past us.

"FOR THE GLORY OF GHETEFE!"

The giant grabbed the first wolf with one hand and smashed it to the wall. Then stepped on the next one and pummeled the third.

One after the other he reduced the wolves to flattened pancakes or wolf balls.

Despite the funny names, it was pretty gruesome to watch.

He pushed his way out of the cage, snapping the cage door off the hinges, and took on the alpha wolf.

Then…he began to change.

His body began to grow bigger, if he wasn't big enough. His body began to grow fur: golden brown fur.

-ROOOOAR-

The roar of an animal I had never heard of echoed, and the beast raised a large hand.

-CRUNCH-

The furry monster hunched over the wolf's dead body, then strange sounds of –munch- and –crunch- and -shing- and –rip- were heard and then...

…the beast shrunk down to it's original, hairless form...well...you know what I mean.

We cautiously looked out the broken doorway.

The beast then flunk something over his head.

-WHOOSH-

A gray fur coat, with the head of the gray wolf above his own.

Surprisingly, all I could wonder was how he did all of that, kill a whole pack of wolves and skin their leader, and keep everything mostly clean of blood.

Not that I know how to skin a wolf but…whatever.

"I CLAIM THIS VICTORY IN THE HONOR AND GLORY OF MY ANCESTORS!"

He raised his hands high and laughed proudly.

He looked to us, and nodded his head. "I thank you friend! I may now fight in the glory of my ancestors once more!"

I stepped out and walked up to him, my chest up high and a look of seriousness in my face.

_I think I know how to go about this._

"It's no surprise you are a man who…yearns for the…glory of battle!" I said in a similar fashion to him.

His cheeks pinched together, which is how I could tell he was smiling. "You have that right little one!"

"Now let's cut to the chase!" I said. "Me and my…clan are on a mission to leave this place! We wish to return to the surface and be free of this place! You are a strong warrior, that would bring glory…and honor to my people! Will you join my…clan?"

He looked down at me, then looked at the others, then looked at me.

"BWAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAH!"

He roared in laughter, the icicles of his massive beard breaking off with every shake.

I didn't break character.

"You? Asking me for my help? Surely you jest!" He said cheerfully.

A slight feeling of disappointment came over me, but I picked my head up once more. "No! I mean every word. Surely a man of your power should belong to a group such as mine! It would be…an honor to fight by your side!"

I held out my hand.

He realized I wasn't kidding.

Then laughed again.

"You have some gall little lamb, to come to me and talk big like that." He said, on a more serious tone.

I looked at him with the same seriousness. "Please, I need all the help I can muster. We are in a prison, a place build to hold enemies of the Marines."

"Marines?" He asked. "You mean the Tribe of the Bird? With sticks of thunder and ships of...metal"

I nodded. "But…I don't belong here and…I don't want to be killed for crimes I didn't commit."

I dropped my hand. My cheeks stung as the cold wind blew on them. My feet were quickly loosing feeling.

"So I'm leaving this place, whether they want me to or not. I'll fight tooth and nail to get out of here, find the man that framed me, who cause me so much pain, and…and…kill him."

I honestly didn't think I'd come to that conclusion, but then I realized…that's what I want.

The man, the blond man with the scar on his face of a letter…W. I remember, it was a W.

I'm going to make him pay. He caused this whole mess, for my grandpa and the scrap shop.

"I won't let him get away for what he's done to me."

-WHOOSH-

The giant extended his hand, I looked at it in shock.

He looked down at me, with those blank white eyes.

"You have fire in those eyes." He said. "The fire of a true warrior. Though you may look like a lamb, you have the heart of a tiger."

He put one knee in the snow. "I, Hukufu, member of the Ougon Tribe will gladly serve you."

I grabbed that humongous hand and shook it as hard as I could. Though it really wasn't that much.

"This is Mathew. And the woman there is Melissa Heartstone."

Mathew nodded at the giant, but Melissa was a little less…compliant. "What's with you recruiting all these big muscle heads? They got more brawn than brain you know."

"Least they got brawn." I joked. "All you got is boobs."

"Nice. I'll remember that, ya little prick." She jokingly said back to me.

And so, that was when the Merc, the Succubus, the Giant, and the Repairman became a crew of four.


	4. Chapter 4

"Is this the exit?" Melissa asked.

The huge stairway, leading to a massive set of doors that had been slammed open, at the end of the trail of foot prints originating from a large group of escaped prisoners…

"Yeah, I think it is." I said sarcastically.

The four of us stood on the stairways, and instantly felt a wave of warmth emitting from the stairwell.

"At last…" Hukufu bellowed. "The feeling in my body is returning."

The icicles were dripping from his large golden beard, and the rest of his body was starting to regain some color to it.

We drifted to the warmth of the hallway, where a sudden blare of alarms went off.

"Hurry, up the stairs!" I shouted.

We ran up the stairs in strides, really to leave the Frozen Hell well behind us.

_That wasn't so bad. The next ones should be a piece of cake._

It was pretty warm inside the stairwell, both Melissa and I cut the ropes off our blankets. She left hers on the stairwell, but my got stuck around my neck so I just kept it on for lack of care.

It flapped behind me like a cape. Made me feel pretty special…

…despite being a tattered old blue blanket and that capes were for more…impressive individuals.

"HAHA! Looks good on you Little Lamb!" Hukufu shouted with joy.

Though I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic.

But soon, it started getting hot in the stairwell, and then…really hot.

We slowed down, seeing as how we had been running for several minutes and still hadn't reached the top.

It was scorching by the next few turns of stairs. I unzipped part of my jumpsuit to let some of the heat escape.

Melissa stopped flying at this point.

"It's soooo hoooooot." She tiredly complained.

"The next level is blazing hot." Mathew said, sweating like the rest of us but didn't act affected by it. "We must hurry forward and onto the next level."

"HAHA! Fear not friends!" Hukufu cheered, completely unaffected by this heat. "As long as there is battle, there is enough glory for us all!"

"Will you just shut up?" Melissa complained, and rolled part of her shirt up.

I'll admit, I was…curious to see if…she was going to…remove anything, but we had more pressing matters then whether I'd get to see boobs or not.

Still…it echoed in the back of my mind.

-SSSSSSS-

The floor burned my feet as I walked.

I had leather shoes on, and it still burned my feet!

Melissa shrieked and leaped into the air in pain.

Her wings kept her off the ground.

Mathew continued walking, yet had a lighter step than before.

I kept jumping from the pain it caused, afraid my shoes would melt.

"HAHA! Fear not Little Lamb!"

Hukufu grabbed me with one arm and put me on his back.

"Lead forward! Onwards, to battle!"

And he took off in a run, with Mathew sprinting and Melissa flying.

When we reached the next level, I almost had a heart attack.

Not only was the air blistering hot, but the sight of it all was…horrible!

Large black cauldrons pouring lava and fire into cages, a huge lake of boiling fire, all of it made of metal, screaming and dying prisoners echoing throughout…it was gruesome.

"Level 4, Blazing Hell." Mathew said.

"It's too hot in here." Melissa complained casually.

I looked forward and found a small pathway of metal leading past the giant cauldrons and cage cells, to the opposite side where the other set of doors were.

And there was evidence that the previous mob of convicts had already blown through here, with fallen guards strewed along the pathway.

"Oh…so this shouldn't be so bad…"

-BOOM-

An explosion detonated on the pathway in front of us.

The path had been blown to smithereens.

"FREEZE!"

A lone row of cannons were mounted along the left side of the wall, with dozens of different guards holding rifles at us.

They looked like an army of demons, with crimson red outfits and horns on their heads.

"Resistance is futile! Give up and you will not be harmed!" They announced.

I measured the distance of the open path. It was broken too far for me to jump, but with the size and speed of Hukufu…

"Melissa, get ready to lift Mathew." I whispered.

"What are you planning?" She asked.

"HEY!" I screamed at them. "WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS A LOAD OF CRAP! I'm gonna die either way. So if I'm gonna die, I'll die fighting! HUKUFU!"

As if he read my mind, he chuckled in delight as he took off with a running start. Melissa scooped up Mathew underneath his arms.

-BOOM-

Hukufu kicked off the ground and made a beautiful leap over the fallen pathway.

I accidently looked down however at the sight of the boiling lake of crimson.

That didn't make me feel so good.

-THUD-

He landed with a thud and took off running down the path.

"Let us fight them!" Hukufu persisted.

"Not yet. First we need to even the playing field." I told him.

Melissa dropped Mathew, who then whipped out his rifle and started firing at the demon guards.

-BANG- -BANG- -BANG-

Three shots, three kills.

The guards fell off the railing and into the boiling lake bellow.

I scanned the platform the guards were standing on, and the cannons mounted on the walls.

_I need to reach one of those cannons._

"HUKUFU! You want to battle? Take the path to the left! It'll lead you straight to them!"

I slid off his back as he took off running.

"FOR THE GLORY OF THE HUNT!"

"Melissa! I need you carry me to one of those cannons!" I shouted, taking a few steps to balance my decent.

She swooped down to me and scooped me up from underneath my arm pits.

"I didn't think you would be so compliant." I mentioned casually.

"I may be a bit of a diva," she said, "but I'm not an idiot."

I looked down at Mathew, who was changing the clips in his gun.

"Mathew! Provide support for Hukufu!"

-BANG- -BANG-

The gun shots at the soldiers were a good enough answer for me.

-KABOOM-

Two cannon shells whizzed past us, but Melissa was pretty quick when it came to flying.

And all the hot air escaping from the boiling lake bellow was increasing her rate of assent.

She whirled around the two projectiles, which I observed were originally fire to cut off what remaining pathway that led to the stairwell leading to Level 5.

"Here's your stop!" She shouted.

With a powerful flap of her wings, she gathered her strength to send me flying with one powerful toss. My cape flapped in the hot wind.

I pulled out my club, my eyes trailed on the guard piloting the mortar.

"DIE!" He shouted.

I landed on the railing besides the mortar.

The mortar's barrel spun a bit to try and knock me off, but I leaped onto the barrel and ran straight towards him.

-BAM-

I swung it like a bat right into his face.

He collided with the floor, unconscious.

I slipped into the seat.

It looked very complicated, with buttons and levers and dials. But I found the two sticks that controlled the aiming and after a few moments of fiddling I was able to fire an accidental shot into one of the giant cauldrons.

-KABOOM-

The cannonball caused a crater to form in the cauldron's wall, but didn't break it.

I trailed onto the deck filled with guards.

Hukufu had begun his…transformation.

I looked in the magnifying window of the mortar to see him.

His body was covered in golden fur, ears grew out from the top of his head, and his face seemed to resemble…

A dog? No, not a dog, more like…a bear.

I'd never seen a bear before, but I knew what it looked like from pictures.

His hands now resembled five fingered paws, with a sharp set of claws on each hand.

And the wolf pelt he wore still managed to stay a top his head.

The platform was full of guards, but I was concerned that if I fired at them, Hukufu might get harmed in some way.

But seeing as how he was wiping out dozens of guards with each swing…

I trailed the mortar towards the end side of the platform and aimed as far way from him as possible.

Before I could attempt to fire, I could hear banging from behind me.

There was a door that led to the small cavern that the mortar was placed on.

_Idea time._

I turned the gun 180 degrees, and aimed it right at the door.

"FIRE!"

-KABOOM-

…That wasn't my brightest plan.

While it did obliterate the wall which had several guards trying to break into here, but the shockwave from it disrupted me, and even caused the mortar to disconnect from the platform.

"OhohohohoSHTI!"

I leaped out of the chair to prevent myself from falling backwards.

The mortar creaked as it disconnected from the floor and tumbled off the side of the wall.

I looked at the obliterated wall, fallen guards buried under a pile of rubble.

Then I looked back down as the mortar went –PLOP- and melted in the boiling lake bellow.

"Ok…not doing that again." I told myself.

I ran through the hole in the wall, deciding to help myself to a new weapon.

One of the fallen guards had some sort of pitchfork, but the ends had been broken off from the explosion.

I slung the rifle over my shoulder, adjusted the strap, and lifted the pitchfork high.

_Lightweight, hard steel, damage to center spike minimal, an improvised spear._

I looked down the hallway; three doors like the one that previously existed here were on the same wall.

They all opened up, and nine demon guards walked through all holding pitchforks and whips.

"SEIZE HIM!" One of them shouted.

_Oh crap._

I took a big breath before lowering my new spear and charged screaming like a maniac.

"HAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAAA!"

I ran through the first guard, but the next one deflected my spear and tried to stab me, while guards 3 and 4 were using there long whips to immobilize my arms.

I was able to release myself from the whips, but I was afraid I was going to be overwhelmed.

But then, I had another moment.

I looked at the scene, my mind processed it with almost instantaneous speed, and I could see the path each guard was about to follow.

One guard was going to stab at my legs, another try and whip me around my neck, the third…I could see reaching for his belt like he had a pistol.

And my body reacted just as fast.

I stepped on the first guard's pitchfork and kicked him in the nose, then swiped the broken pitchfork I held across the second guards face, slashing his face open. Then I lifted the spear high and tossed it like a javelin at the guard who _just now_ pulled out a high caliber pistol.

-BOOM- -BAM- SHINK-

All three guards fell, but there were still five more to deal with.

Before they could reach me, I dived towards that third guard, swiping up his pistol.

Then with my other hand, I pulled out the automatic pistol and aimed both at the guards.

-BANG- -BANG- -BANG-

-TATATATAT-

The first two hit the next guard in the chest, while the rapid fire shots hit another in the shoulder.

I couldn't believe what I was doing. My body was flowing like water.

I pistol whipped the wounded guard on the back of the head, and I stared down the other two.

They looked nervous to step forward.

Before I could do anything else, something swooped from behind me and tackled one of them to the wall.

"YEAH!" Melissa shouted.

Her wings pinned the first guard to the wall while her tail shot out and wrapped around the other guard's neck.

I looked at her unimpressed. "You know I had it under control."

She picked the second guard up and threw him across the room, while she slashed the first one with her claws. "So? I'm not allowed to have any fun?'

She dropped the guard from the wall and retracted all her…features. "So, what's next?"

"Well, how are the other two doing?" I asked.

She walked through the door, her finger gesturing to follow me.

I looked out over the balcony. Hukufu and Mathew had…obliterated the entire deck of guards.

"HUAAAAHAHAHA!" Hukufu roared in triumph.

I looked down in confusion.

_This is almost too easy; all these guards are super weak._

I should know: if I could easily beat them, they couldn't have been such a challenge.

-BOOM-

A loud sound reverberated through the area.

Then, the sound of foot steps.

A **lot** of footsteps.

I couldn't comprehend the sight I was witnessing.

An army of…God knows what was marching down the steps.

Giant blue monsters, wielding giant axes and shoulder mounted cannons and other weapons I couldn't describe.

All being leg by this massive creature that was about Hukufu's size.

It was a giant gray monster, but I couldn't make out what it was from my position.

Then, this incredibly small figure stepped out from behind the giant creature.

I hopped up on the mortar, and looked through the magnifying window.

A little yellow creature with large horns, in a yellow suit holding a small pitchfork.

"Attention escapes!" He called out calmly, his voice sounding like a high pitch child. "This is as far as you go. We have neutralized the previous group ahead of you, so you have no chance of escape now."

I then turned the focus on the giant creature behind him.

It was, for lack of a better word, a bull man.

I know those things don't even exist, but it had the face of a cow, and towered over the little man with a steel club over its shoulder.

"I, Saldeath Jr., am commander of the Blue Gorillas you see before you. You have no chance of escape. Please, give up now before I am tasked to destroy you."

The bull man took a step forward, but Saldeath Jr. waved his pitchfork at him.

I put my hands on the trigger of the mortar, and aimed at the giant monster.

_I guess there's really no going back now._

-KABOOM-

The cannonball plummeted right into the monster's face.

Everything was engulfed in smoke.

When it died down, my heart seemed to skip a beat to see that the monster…was completely unaffected by that blast.

Only difference now, it that its eyes were aimed right at me.

_Oh…kay…that didn't go well…_

"You idiot!" Melissa shouted. "We're really done for now! That's Minotaurus! One of the four Demon Guards of Level 4!"

"Demon Guards?" I asked.

"They are said to have once been human torturers of the prison. They were monsters when they were human, but when they all ate Zoan type devil fruits, they turned into beasts that could go on indefinitely."

_Devil fruit users? That could be a problem._

"Take no prisoners!" Saldeath shouted, then put his pitchfork to his lips.

-FEEEEEEET-

It was a whistle. He blew a loud sharp note, and the giant blue monsters readied their weapons.

In an act of quick thinking, I fired two shots at the path in front of them, hoping to stall them for a little while.

"Melissa, take these keys!" I shouted, tossing her the set. "Unlock as many cage doors as you can!"

She paused for a quick second, then nodded.

She leaped off the balcony and sprout her wings. Then made a nose dive to the cages.

I had to distract them for a little while longer.

I began firing like crazy at all the blue monsters. Some of them fired back at me.

-SHINK-

I almost shit my pants when a giant double sided axe got stuck in the blast shield of the mortar.

But I kept firing, until the mortar stopped.

I inspected it as quickly as I could, and saw that the constant shelling of ammo caused the internal mechanics to overheat.

I didn't have time to wait, so I leaped off the seat…

-BONK-

…and proceeded to trip on something before I could take two steps.

I kicked it in frustration, to see it was one of the shells the mortar fired.

The casing to the cannon's ammo supply had been broken by that axe, and shells had spilled out over the ground.

I inspected the shell: lightweight, gunpowder, brass casing, was about the size as those flares in my sling.

Then…I got another idea.

I peeled the red casing off the flare carefully, inspecting the contents.

I also pried apart one of the shells, and inspected just the same.

_With these components, gun powder, primers, extended fuse, replacing the aluminum casing with the casing of the flare…_

It was kind of complicated, but basically I attached the flare inside the shell, so when the flare is lit on fire and the fuel inside reaches a certain point, it should detonate the shell.

Kind of like a hand bomb.

I wrapped it all up in a hunk of my cape that was all dry and nasty from the heat inside this place, and…tada!

I did the same with the other two flares, and squeezed them inside my rope sling.

I went back to the hallway, and pulled the broken pitch fork.

After two hard kicks, I broke off the remainder of the two spikes.

A perfect throwing spear.

I did the same with two other pitchforks, doing it as quickly and efficiently as possible.

-BOOM-

Something…was right behind me.

A giant, blue monster, was towering above me.

It had a painted skull for a face, strange blocky hands, which were holding a giant axe.

I leaped sideways as it brought the axe down.

I threw one javelin at it, piercing its left shoulder.

Not even flinching, it waved its arm and hit me in the ribs.

I slammed into the wall in pain, gasping for air.

_It hurts…no, focus! Stay awake!_

I concentrated, using my observing skills to assess the situation.

The path of the axe was all pre-determined: from the height he held it from his stance to my assumptions of his strength and the weight of the axe.

_There! He's going to swing it there!_

Sure enough, the axe followed the path I saw, and I reacted.

I jumped off the wall, ending up landing on the axe as it smashed into the metal wall.

_HOLY SHIT! I can't believe that actually worked!_

Before he could have a chance to rip that axe out of the wall, I threw another javelin it his head.

However, the blow from before ruined my posture, causing the javelin to instead hit the upper part of his arm.

-OOOOOO-

It made a low rumble in pain and tried to grab me with it's free hand.

I instead, ripped one of the improvised bombs from before from my sash and threw it at his hand.

I leaped away as he grabbed it.

I turned away as a loud explosion detonated from behind me.

-**KABOOM-**

I covered my ears and ducked.

When the smoke cleared, I turned to see the vanquished foe.

He didn't look like he was going to get up anytime soon.

_I guess I'm pretty good at this "combat" thing._

-BOOM- -BOOM-

_Oh please let that be Melissa…_

* * *

><p><em>Ten minutes prior…shift in perspective.<em>

Crazy.

I think after all this time, in this tiny little cage with all these big, filthy people I've actually lost what little bit of my sanity I had left.

Crazy.

I wonder what all this yelling and shouting the horned men are talking about.

Words like _escape_ and _prisoner_ and _defense_ keep popping up in their dialogue.

I wonder if it's nice to be a horned man. Maybe I'll become one someday…probably not.

What was I thinking about?

My name? I can't remember.

It's really hot in this place. I think I just realized that. I mean I have been in here for several days but, it hasn't really occurred to me.

These clothes are too small. I need bigger ones to hide my weapons…

My name? Almost had it, forgot again.

Why am I here again? Haven't the foggiest. Where did that phase from? Maybe my thoughts are like fog, all gray and confusing.

Something about hitting someone, oh I can't remember. It's really hot in here you know.

It wasn't my fault, and why did he have a bubble on his head?

My name? Hisako Fuji of course, why wouldn't I know that?

-BANG-

There's a large group of people running past me.

Where are they going? Are they in a race? No, there in a prison…

They're pushing the horned people over the rails.

They're wearing outfits like mine.

These clothes are too small. I need bigger ones to hide my weapons…

…there they go.

-KABOOM-

Explosions. Some of them fall over the rails.

Maybe they'll meet the horned men when they die, and have an awkward conversation about what just happened.

All the men ran off…

It's quiet again.

All the prisoners in these cages are too hot to move.

Not as in they are _attractive_, but I rather enjoy the female body.

Especially the boobs. I haven't seen boobs in a long time.

…_Several minutes pass…_

Everything's quiet…

-KABOOM-

Scratch that.

"Resistance is futile! Give up and you will not be harmed!" A guard shouts.

I moved my head slightly to get a better look, no dice.

Must be more of those other prisoners. You come to accept these things when they become a common occurrence.

How many times has this happened?

…Once…

Close enough.

"WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS A LOAD OF CRAP!"

Who was that?

-KABOOM-

Never mind. He's probably already dead.


	5. Chapter 5

I looked past the balcony.

The army of blue monsters had split up. Some were taking a longer route across, others were trying to make the jump from one broken path to the other.

And they were succeeding.

…I got another idea.

I looked at the giant caudron I shot at before.

I looked at the support chains that held it up.

You see my idea yet?

I trailed the gun at the chain.

-KABOOM-

Missed.

"Damn it!"

-FEEEEEE-

Another loud note shrieked.

-KABOOM- -KABOOM-

The mortar was fired upon, engulfing me in black smoke.

-KABOOM-

I was able to fire the gun one last time before the smoke became too thick to handle.

I hurried out of the small room, coughing violently from the smoke.

I looked around the hallway.

Another door at the end of the opposite side.

I quickly stepped over the fallen guards and opened the door.

A tiny steel stairway, connected to the wall, let right down to the main pathway.

It didn't even look remotely safe.

But I had no choice.

I quickly ran down as fast I could, keeping my eyes on where I was stepping.

But I took a few sideways glances every now and again, and the results were promising.

I could see prisoners, angry, violent, overheated prisoner engaging the monsters.

They looked like black and white dots engaging the bigger blue dots.

Still, I couldn't find the Minotaurus…

-BOOM-

A giant wave of gray fur moved right in front of me, crushing the stairway into the wall.

The giant looked down at me with beady eyes, it's foot jammed into a stone wall, a giant club over his head.

My brain couldn't react fast enough to comprehend what was happening.

And so I….just fell over.

With no way to defend myself, I just…fell over.

His club swung right above me, almost skinning me completely.

In fact the shockwave of the force it cause was enough to knock the wind out of me.

And I fell towards the boiling lava bellow.

Hot air blasted me in the face as the red bubbling sea grew closer to me.

_This is it? Am I really going to die?_

-WHOOSH-

I stopped.

Something wrapped around my waist and yanked on me.

Melissa had wrapped her tail around my waist, and was struggling to keep me up.

"Just hold on!" She ensured me.

I had never been so happy in my life.

She dived down, scooped her arms between mine, and landed on the main platform.

Mathew was there to meet us.

"Did you do it?" I asked Melissa.

She handed me the keys. "See for yourself."

It was a glorious sight to behold.

Dozens of prisoners were engaging the giant blue monsters.

The prisoners had already begun stealing their weapons and returned fire. The giant monsters were trying to shove them off the railings, but they fought back just as hard.

I could see one prisoner, a huge hulking man, swinging around a giant hunk of metal attached to a long chain.

There were swordsmen and gunmen and cannon men.

It was an army fighting back.

-KABOOM-

A cannonball was flying towards us. The three of us split to dodge it.

-BOOM-

It was caught…by Hukufu.

He was in his beast form; his giant claws crushing the cannonball like it was candy.

"Just asking but…what are you?" I asked Hukufu.

He shrunk down to human form, brushing his hands together. "There has been legend of cursed fruit in our tribe: eating one will give you powers beyond reason. I have eaten one of them. It has granted me the power to take the shape of a bear."

"A devil fruit." Mathew said.

The wave of prisoners began to push back the blue monsters. Their yellow commander took a few steps back.

He barked an order at one of them, then let loose another loud note on his flute.

They immediately retreated, leaving their wounded behind.

The prisoners cheered in victory.

But I didn't.

Something was wrong.

-CREEK-

-SHUNK-

As soon as the last monster ran past the gate, a huge metal wall dropped, blocking the exit.

_They trapped us!_

The prisoners gathered around the wall and tried to destroy it.

I looked at my group.

"What are our options?" I asked them.

"Knowing the Marines," Mathew said, "they are prepared to destroy this entire level to maintain order."

I looked around.

_Wait…Look at that steam._

Steam was rising up from the boiling lake bellow.

Steam was escaping through a large hole in the ceiling.

I didn't notice it before: there was a giant hole where light shown into the 4th level.

"We can get through there!" I said, pointing at the hole.

"And how ya gonna pull that one out?" A voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see a disarmed devil guard standing behind me.

All four of us were ready to attack him, but he held up his hands in surrender.

"Don't you recognize me lad?" He said, like we were friends or something.

_That voice…_

He took off his hood, and it revealed to be…some guy I didn't know.

He had a rounded face with short black hair.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He looked at himself and shrugged. "Sorry, forgot I was wearing this."

He violently shook his head, and his head began to change.

It got wider, and more importantly his hair changed into a huge mop or fiery red.

"Much better." He said.

He cracked his neck, and his back began to hunch over. His arms and legs even began to shrink.

Before long, he was back to that hunched over troll of a man.

The man who took that first group of prisoners from me.

"You survived?" I asked.

He made a bow. "I knew we were outmatched the instant I saw the Minotaurus. So I knocked one of those lout's out and took his place. I'm pretty darn good at what I do, if I should toot my own horn."

Hukufu looked at him with distain. "You're the tiny chieftain."

"Name's Newmen. Pleasure to meet'cha sir."

He held out a skinny hand, and I shook it out of courtesy.

"Why should we trust you? You already took one group from me," I said, "what makes you think I'd let you do it again?"

He scoffed. "Trust me, I won't. Turns out I'm no good at leading an army. What matters is how to get a large number of people out and through that hole in the ceiling."

"It should lead us to Level 3." Mathew said. "Level 4 generates the heat used to heat up Level 3."

There were no visible ways to climb up the wall.

_Maybe we can toss a chain upward, and we can climb up? No no, there's no chain long enough to reach that height._

Then again…there was the giant cauldron.

Giant chains suspended it from the roof of the prison level.

"Melissa, fly up there and see if there's anyway for people to climb up. A service duct or a ladder or anything."

She nodded and flapped her wings.

-BOOM-

The platform shook.

-BOOM- -BOOM-

Prisoners shouted in pain.

The Minotaurus was on the move, plowing through rows of escapees and heading this way.

"Um, Hukufu…please stop that guy!" I shouted.

He smiled. "Such a foe will be remembered, even as I pass out from drinking too much mead!"

He turned into beast form and charged the monster.

-**BOOM**-

The Taurus swung his giant mace at Hukufu, who stopped it with his mighty furry paw. The monster head butted him, digging his horns into Hukufu, but he didn't budge.

The monster used his hooved foot to trip Hukufu, pushing him out of the way and headed towards me!

I took a step back to try and run, but he was too fast.

-SWOOP-

And in an instant I was in the air, with the Minotaurus swiping at air as I moved farther away.

Melissa dropped me off at a higher platform.

"There are several service ladders that lead straight to the next level. But are inaccessible from our position." Melissa said.

I looked up desperately at the chains.

_If only we could lower them somehow._

The chains were coming down the ceiling, out of small holes in the stone.

"Where are the chains coming from?" I asked her, pointing at the ceiling.

She looked up to where I was pointing. "Well, the chains looked like they were hooked up to giant power wenches, to lower the pot. But each chain has to be powered manually, otherwise the pot tips to one side and all that lava pours out."

I grit my teeth. "Must be specially designed to dump lava on the prisoners. Cruel bastards. I never really hated the Marines until I got here. Well, we're gonna need four people to be up there to lower the pot all the way down."

I looked around and found Mathew and Newmen trying to deal with the weary prisoners.

-BAM-

Hukufu landed one good solid punch to the Minotaurus' face, and he fell to the ground.

"HAHA! Victory! I shall sing of this day for many years to come!"

All the prisoner's cheered as Hukufu shrunk down to his _human_ size.

But that was only one problem dealt with. We needed to deal with the other.

"Mathew! Newmen! Get over here!"

They looked my way and made their way to me.

I told them my plan.

Mathew shook his head. "It's a fool's plan. Those chains will be too hot for any man to climb."

"I'd disagree with ya mate." Newmen said. "These men have been in these heated conditions for God knows how long. Besides, they'd rather go through the fiery pits of hell to leave this cursed place."

"We've got to try." I said. Then I looked to Melissa. "Take them up to their positions. If there's guards up there, beat'em down. Wait for the signal."

As Melissa took Mathew off to the first position, I turned to the prisoners.

"HEY! HEY!" I screamed, trying to get their attention.

They weren't listening. They were too busy trying to break down the wall in frustration.

"**SIIIIILEEEENCE!**" Newmen roared.

They all halted. Then turned around to me and Newmen with looks of confusion, murmuring and glaring.

"Thanks." I said sheepishly to him.

"Go get'em boss." He said.

I stepped forward. "Listen everyone! That way is blocked, and no amount of cannon fire and pounding will change that!"

They grumbled and shouted in frustration and anger.

"Wait a moment! Wait a moment! There's still hope!"

I pointed to the ceiling. "That's our only chance of escaping this place!"

They looked to the ceiling and scoffed.

"How we gonna get up there, dumbass?" One of them shouted. Others scoffed and laughed.

"We're gonna climb the chains of that giant cauldron right there! I'm going to lower the cauldron, and when I do you all need to climb up to the next level! There are service ladders that should lead you from those chains to the opening in the ceiling!"

They stopped laughing. Some of them were still not sure.

"How we supposed to climb that damn thing?"

"This plan is stupid!"

"You trying to kill us boy?"

They were getting mad again, and moving closer to me.

I felt like they were gonna beat me up of something.

-BOOM-

Hukufu stood between them and me.

"Anyone who lays a hand on this little man will feel my strength!"

They stopped their advance.

I came from behind Hukufu. "Look. No one said this would be easy. But it's possible! It's our only chance of escaping this place! Do you want to cook in this giant oven for the rest of your lives?"

The responses ranged from "no" to "hell no!" to "GOD! FUCK NO!"

"Trust me! I'm in the same boat as all of you! The only way to get us all out of here is with this plan!"

"What about that girl? That flying girl? The one with the really nice boobs?" Someone said.

I scanned the crowd, looking for the one who said that.

It was…a boy.

Well not like a little boy, he looked about 16.

He had jagged black hair, black wide eyes, and was wearing a prisoner's guard jacket that was way too big for him over his prisoner outfit.

Kind of weird how a boy younger than me is in this prison, but I didn't want to think much on it.

"Yeah! I wanna ride from the pretty lady too!"

The rest of them agreed, and made lewd remarks about her as well.

I raised my hand. "Look! You saw the door! There readying to destroy this level any moment! We don't have time for her to fly every man up there! We'd all be dead!"

They still disagreed.

"Besides…don't you all wanna live to see her after we get out of here?"

They all agreed with that.

"So come on guys! Let's do this! FOR FREEDOM!"

"FOR THE TITTIES!" One of them shouted.

"**YEAH!**"

I just stood there, with a stupid look on my face as they cheered.

"Nice going there Ass-hat." Melissa's voice said from behind me.

"ACK!"

She wrapped her tail around my chest and yanked me off the ground.

"SORRY!" I shouted, as she rudely jerked me around. "Didn't…mean it…to go…like that!"

She sighed. "I'm just kidding. It's not like I'm bothered by it. I live off of men's lust. I feed of that stuff."

My impression of a Succubus changed more and more every second.

She flew me up to the top of the farthest chain, thought a tiny little hole and dropped me off.

"Get to the last chain, and wait for the signal." I said.

She nodded. "Let's hope this plan works."

"Why are you hoping?" I asked. "Don't you just have to fly out if this goes bad?"

She frowned. "Well, it will be hard for me to fight off all those guards and Blue Gorillas myself, and I would miss your company…"

"Oh…sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude." I apologized. "It's just…I'm just a regular guy! From the Outer Ring! I don't think I'm cut out for this kind of stuff…"

She put a finger to my mouth. "I'm sure I'd love to hear your life's story, but the bottom floor is literally hot lava and it's rising this very moment. So how about we get along with this plan before we all MELT TO DEATH!"

And with that, she dropped out of the room.

I looked in the small room.

The power winch was very big, with a small level on the side of it that I assumed was the lowered the chain.

The chain itself was massive close up, surely big enough for any man to climb on. Even someone as big as Hukufu.

I lowered it slightly to test it.

-**VWOOSH**-

The winch powered up and made an incredibly loud noise as the chain slightly lowered.

"_What was that?_" Newmen's voice called.

I looked around the room, wondering how he got in here.

There was a small table, where a handheld device sat on.

"_I thought we needed to wait for the signal._" His voice said from the device.

A radio! Just what I needed.

I grabbed it and spoke into it.

"Newmen! Newmen! Can you hear me?"

"_Is that you boy? Where are…aha! A transponder!_"

-CLATTER- -THUD-

"_I hear ya boy. This makes things much easier._" He said.

"_I'll take it we don't need that signal anymore right?_" Mathew's voice chimed in.

There was a radio in each of the rooms.

"Melissa? Melissa?"

"_Sam? Where are you?"_ She asked. "_Oh!_"

-CLATTER-

"_I found it."_ She said.

"Ok guys, on my mark. There's a red lever connected to the giant wench in the middle of the room."

"_Got it._" Mathew confirmed.

"_Check._" Newmen confirmed.

"_Just wait…yeah! I found it._" Melissa confirmed.

"Ok, on the count of three, we pull down on the lever all the way."

I put my hand on the lever.

"One…"

I gripped it tightly.

"Two…"

_Pray to God this works…_

"THREE!"

-CHUNK-

The chain began to lower.

I looked out the hole to see the cauldron lower.

The cauldron wobbled as it lowered, the bubbling red inside looking like it was going to splash out.

But it soon lowered past the main platform and went –PLT- right into the lake below.

"OK! CLIMB ON UP!"

I couldn't see anyone's faces, but none of them seemed eager to jump on the giant burning chain.

-CLANK-

Someone finally jumped on.

From up here, even I could see that shining mass of golden hair from his face.

Huhufu lead the climb. And after he jumped on, more and more of them started jumping as well.

All of them had begun climbing, every chain had people climbing upwards.

-WHOOSH-

Melissa flew in to the room, holding a radio the same as mine.

"Now what do we do?"

"We wait until they all get up here and…"

-BOOM-

The chain began to wobble.

Then it shook violently.

I looked down to see the commotion.

All the men were grabbing hold of the chain, but that wasn't the problem. The boiling lake bellow was beginning to rise!

The rising lava was causing the giant metal pot to rise, and the chain was shaking because of the change in distance.

"Melissa! Get back to the other chain!"

She nodded and dived out quickly.

"Ok guys!" I shouted on the radio. "we're gonna raise the pot!"

"_Gotcha_." Mathew shouted.

"_Give those boys a hand._" Newmen agreed.

"_I'm ready Sam!_" Melissa said.

"Ok, and RAISE!"

-CHUNK-

-**VWHOWHOWHOSH-**

I pushed the chain up as much as I could.

The chain whirled upward.

Until it hit the end and stopped.

-**CLINK**-

A giant hand grabbed the stone floor.

Hukufu pulled himself up into the room.

He was almost too big for the room's size.

"You did well Little Lamb. What's our next move?"

Soon more and more people began climbing up though the hole.

About twenty in all.

I called on the radio.

"Mathew! Newmen! Melissa! Do a head count of how many made it."

"Fifteen." Mathew responded.

"Twenty five on this end." Newmen shouted.

"I've got about twenty here!" Melissa shouted nervously.

"Ok now listen! There should be a door in each of those rooms. Find your way to Level Three. Radio back to me once you reach it."

The three confirmed, and I turned to my crowd.

"Ok guys. We move on to Level Three!"

"**HURRAH!**"

I ran through the door first, looked down the stone hallway, to see a long flight of stairs.

-BOOM-

The door was smashed off it's hinges.

Hukufu held it in confusion.

"I see no point in such tiny doors. No room for walking."

The stairway lead to another door, which lead to…

…an arid desert.

Cages, just as before. But there was a huge layer of golden sand over everything.

"Starvation Hell."

I turned to see the boy from before behind me.

"One of the others who was in the cell behind me spoke of this place. So undesirable. No food, no water. Just sand and dry air. Such an uncomfortable way to live."

"Yeah well if they wanted us to be comfortable, I guess we wouldn't be here." I suggested.

He looked at me with strange eyes.

"Was I talking aloud?"

I nodded.

"Huh. Odd. Didn't think I was."

This guy was a little odd…


End file.
